DALLAS — P.J. Carlesimo couldn’t help himself when Mark Cuban’s comments about Deron Williams came up at the end of his press conference after Wednesday night’s Nets victory over the Mavericks.
The irascible Nets interim head coach was finishing up his postgame remarks when a Dallas reporter asked him whether he thought Williams, who finished with 31 points after a spectacular second half, held anything against Cuban saying the Mavericks were better off without him, and instead maintaining financial flexibility moving forward, when Williams remained a Net last summer.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure [Williams] understands that you’re not gonna expect intelligent statements from Mark, anyhow,” Carlesimo said with a huge grin as reporters laughed.
The comment was clearly in jest, coming on the heels of what was one of the best performances by the Nets this season.
Carlesimo and Cuban were on opposite sides of one of the NBA’s most-heated rivalries over the past decade or so when Carlesimo spent five seasons in San Antonio as an assistant with the Spurs.
tbontemps@nypost.com