Rick Carlisle is staying with the Indiana Pacers for the long haul. The team has agreed to a multiyear extension with its head coach after he guided the franchise to its first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.
The deal, first reported by NBA insider Marc Stein and later confirmed by multiple outlets, keeps Carlisle under contract well beyond the end of his initial four-year agreement signed in 2021. Exact terms were not disclosed.
Guiding Indiana Pacers to NBA Finals
Carlisle, 65, returned to Indiana in 2021 to oversee what began as a difficult rebuild. His first season back ended with one of the worst records in franchise history at 25-57. Progress soon followed. The Pacers climbed to 35 wins in 2023, then 47 wins in 2024, and reached the 50-win plateau last season.
That steady ascent peaked in a surprising playoff run. Indiana advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and built on that momentum by reaching the 2025 NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. The Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in five more before ousting the New York Knicks in six games to reach the Finals.
Despite losing to the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game series, Indiana’s run energized the franchise and fan base. Tyrese Haliburton punctuated the postseason with clutch shots, including a buzzer-beating game-tying bucket against New York and a game-winning jumper in Game 1 of the Finals.
Rick Carlisle’s Legacy and Challenges Ahead
Carlisle has now coached the Pacers for eight total seasons across two separate tenures, compiling a 338-318 (.515) regular-season record and a 41-34 (.547) mark in the playoffs. His 81 playoff victories tie him for 10th on the NBA’s all-time coaching list.
A former Boston Celtics guard who won a championship as a player in 1986, Carlisle earned his coaching crown in 2011 with Dallas, leading Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks past LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh’s Miami Heat.
This time, he will try to help Indiana finish the job. The Pacers will enter the 2025-26 season without Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles tear in Game 7 of the Finals, and without longtime center Myles Turner, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency.
Even so, Carlisle will have much of the roster that powered Indiana’s breakthrough and the job security to continue building. For the Pacers, continuity was a clear priority after a season that restored the franchise’s place on the NBA map.
