INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers have rewarded Rick Carlisle after leading them to within one game of the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship.
Longtime NBA writer Marc Stein is reporting the team has signed their head coach to a multiyear contract extension. League sources confirmed the information to FOX59/CBS4.
Carlisle just wrapped up his fourth year in his second stint with the Pacers. He was also head coach for four seasons from 2003-2007. He’s 338-318 in his eight seasons with Indiana.
The Pacers rebounded from a slow start to last season to earn the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, then knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks as the lower seed to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in team history.
They went the distance with the Western Conference champion Thunder before falling in game seven, 103-91 in Oklahoma City after star guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles injury.
Carlisle began his pro coaching career as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Nets before stops with the Portland TrailBlazers and Indiana under Larry Bird. He got his first head coaching job with Detroit for two seasons before his first stop in Indiana. He then coached Dallas for 13 seasons, leading the Mavericks to the 2011 NBA championship.
He’s led the Pacers to five playoff appearances, including three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pacers will play the 2025-26 season without Haliburton. They open up the season October 23 with an NBA Finals rematch against Oklahoma City at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.