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Tim Bontemps
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has signed a multiyear contract extension with the franchise, the team announced Tuesday, after leading the franchise to its first NBA Finals appearance in a quarter century this past spring.
Carlisle, who first coached the Pacers from 2003 to 2007 and was an assistant under Larry Bird when Indiana had last made the Finals in 2000, returned to the franchise in 2021 after a successful 13-year run with the Dallas Mavericks that included winning the 2011 NBA title.
“Since his return to the Pacers in 2021, Coach Carlisle has been integral to our success, which includes leading us to consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances and our first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “Beyond his coaching achievements that rank him among the best in NBA history, Coach Carlisle continues to embrace our community and give back to the state of Indiana with his Drive and Dish program. We are thrilled to have him continue leading our team and representing our organization well into the future.”
After Gregg Popovich retired as coach of the San Antonio Spurs and Tom Thibodeau was fired by the New York Knicks — following a loss to Carlisle and the Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference finals — the 65-year-old is now the NBA’s oldest active head coach.
Carlisle has a career regular-season record of 993-860 and will become the 11th coach in NBA history to reach the 1,000 wins mark early next season. He is second to Milwaukee’s Doc Rivers among active coaches in regular-season wins. Carlisle also is 10th all time with 86 postseason victories, trailing Rivers, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Golden State’s Steve Kerr among active coaches.
In his first season, Indiana traded Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton, setting the stage for the Pacers to return to the playoffs and then reach the Eastern Conference finals in 2024, getting that far for the first time in a decade.
The Pacers then knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Knicks this past season to reach the league Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Indiana fell in seven games — and lost Haliburton for next season with a torn Achilles.
Carlisle, who was a member of the 1986 champion Boston Celtics as part of a five-year NBA career that included stops with the Knicks and New Jersey Nets, is also the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association.