Knicks Enemy Extends Head Coach

Brief New York Knick Rick Carlisle might have a chance to go for a different kind of Indianapolis 500.

Per longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, the Indiana Pacers have re-upped with Carlisle on a multi-year extension, keeping him at the helm of the defending Eastern Conference champions.

At 993 wins between his time with Indiana and the Dallas Mavericks, Carlisle is the second-winningest coach on the active NBA ledgers (behind Milwaukee's Doc Rivers) and is seven triumphs away from being the 11th coach to reach four digits.

May 29, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle looks on in the first quarter against the New York Knicks during game five of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

A New York State native (born in Ogdensburg and raised in Lisbon), Carlisle spent one season of a five-year playing career with the Knicks, playing 26 games in Manhattan during the 1987-88 campaign. He also had three years with the Boston Celtics (playing 77 games with the famed 1985-86 group) and five additional showings with the New Jersey Nets.

In modern Knick lore, however, Carlisle has been a bit of a villain, having overseen the end of each of the last two Manhattan seasons at the helm of the Pacers. Indiana won a seven-game set in the 2024 conference semifinals before spoiling the Knicks' first final four showing in a quarter-century this past spring. With that latter six-game win, the Pacers ended a 25-year drought of their own, reaching an NBA Finals that became a seven-game classic against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Carlisle, 65 is in the midst of his second stint with the Pacers, having previously led them for four seasons (2003-07) before moving onto Dallas. In North Texas, Carlisle earned another championship ring, as the Mavericks took down the Miami Heat in a six-game upset back in 2011. A lengthy stay in Dallas (2008-21) also had Carlisle overseeing the first NBA days of current Knicks star Jalen Brunson, a 2018 draft pick out of Villanova.

Since Carlisle's return to Indianapolis in 2021-22, the Pacers have won 23 playoff games, tied with the Knicks for the fifth-most in the Association in that span. Immediately adding to that total could be difficult: in addition to losing franchise face Tyrese Haliburton to a devastating Achilles injury during Game 7 of June's Finals, Indiana also bid farewell to tenured center Myles Turner, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.

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