Rick Carlisle is returning to the Indiana Pacers for a second stint as head coach, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported Thursday morning. Sources tell ESPN the four-year coaching deal is worth $29 million plus incentives.
Carlisle previously coached the Pacers for four seasons, registering a 181-147 record and making the playoffs three times including an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in his first season with the team back in 2003-04. Prior to that, he served as an assistant under Larry Bird from the 1997-98 season to 1999-2000.
The reunion with Indiana comes one week after Carlisle, 61, resigned as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, ending a 13-year run with the team and setting a franchise record for most wins with a 555-478 line.
“After a number of in-person conversations with (team owner) Mark Cuban over the last week, today I informed him that I will not be returning as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks,” Carlisle said in a written statement to ESPN. “This was solely my decision. My family and I have had an amazing 13-year experience working with great people in a great city.”
Carlisle returns to Indiana in place of Nate Bjorkgren, who was fired after just one season as Pacers head coach. The Pacers missed the playoffs this season after losing out on a play-in tournament bid for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference to the Washington Wizards. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported a primary reason Bjorkgren was let go was his lack of experience as a head coach and his inability to temper Indiana’s veteran locker room.
“There are certain (traits) that are non-negotiables for me going forward,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said at the time of the firing. “I hope I’ve learned from this in terms of selecting the right coach.”
Carlisle has a career record of 836-689 in coaching stints with the Pacers, Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons.
