Rick Carlisle has come to an understanding regarding a multi-year extension with the Indiana Pacers, the squad verified on Tuesday.
Carlisle, who is 65, steered the Pacers to their initial NBA Finals presence since the year 2000, marking their second instance ever, during the past season. Aspiring to secure their very first NBA championship, they were defeated by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who achieved 68 victories, in seven games.
Still, Carlisle masterminded one of the more unforeseen and noteworthy playoff stretches in the league’s recent chronicles. In his fourth year directing the franchise, Indiana clinched 50 victories and secured the No. 4 position in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Subsequent to orchestrating a comparable enchanted voyage to the Eastern Conference finals a year prior, the Pacers once again captivated and this time transported their allure into June.
Indiana eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks within five games, subsequently ousting the conference’s top-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers in five additional games. While both the Bucks and Cavaliers grappled with injury concerns, the Pacers, known for their up-tempo style, demonstrated their entitlement to reside within the upper tier of the East, showcasing a compilation of commanding triumphs alongside a selection of others that extended down to the wire, during which star point guard Tyrese Haliburton prospered and astounded.
Haliburton cultivated a penchant for delivering pivotal shots during the postseason, ushering in remarkable victories and rendering an anonymous player assessment from earlier in the year entirely inconsequential. The two-time All-Star garnered recognition as the “most overrated” player throughout the league.
He dispelled that depiction anew during the Eastern Conference finals, executing a game-tying, buzzer-sounding basket to compel overtime against the New York Knicks during the series’ opening contest, and recurrently during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, attributable to a last-instant, game-winning jump shot that finalized another resurgence.
Indiana subdued the Knicks in six games, yet Haliburton’s Achilles rupture prematurely during Game 7 of the NBA Finals inflicted a demoralizing blow to Indiana’s underdog endeavor.
Head coach Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers talks with Tyrese Haliburton during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 12, 2024, in Cleveland. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
(Nick Cammett via Getty Images)
The Pacers will proceed without Haliburton throughout the upcoming season as he recuperates from his debilitating ailment. Additionally, they will lack the presence of longstanding center Myles Turner, who unexpectedly entered into an agreement with the Bucks during free agency.
Nevertheless, Indiana shall retain a multitude of supplementary components from the 2024-25 ensemble, alongside Carlisle at the forefront.
Carlisle, having secured an NBA championship as a player with the Boston Celtics back in 1986, famously steered the Dallas Mavericks toward a title in 2011. That Dirk Nowitzki-led, six-game triumph over the Miami Heat’s LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh transpired during Carlisle’s third of eleven seasons coaching the Mavericks.
He embraced the Pacers’ position, for the second occasion throughout his career, preceding the 2021-22 campaign, which initiated an expedited reconstruction within Indiana. Subsequent to accumulating a combined sum of 60 victories during the initial two seasons of his subsequent tenure as the franchise’s head coach, the Pacers experienced a breakthrough during Year 3, marked by the inception of their two consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances.
Carlisle’s tally of 81 playoff triumphs currently stands as the 10th highest count among coaches in NBA annals.
