Pacers HC Rick Carlisle Reacts to Thunder Parade Buses Before Game 7

Ricardo Klein | Jun 22, 2025

Jun 8, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle looks on during the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder of game two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers are a few hours away from playing in their first-ever Game 7 in the NBA Finals. The Pacers will look to capture their first title in franchise history, and all eyes will be on Indiana in a few hours.

In the meantime, it seems the Oklahoma City Thunder have already started looking ahead. A video showing the team prepping parade buses quickly made the rounds online.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle caught wind of it and responded the only way he knows how—calmly but with clear intent—just hours before the most important game of his coaching career.

Rick Carlisle said he was just shown a video of Thunder parade busses getting presumably dressed up for a potential celebration.

“That’s all I’m thinking about right now.” pic.twitter.com/YqdkrDrP8f

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) June 22, 2025

“I just saw a video that's probably going to go viral. Of some busses, open top busses, presumably for the parade that are already painted with them as champions. That's all I'm thinking about right now.”

Here’s the video of buses ready for a potential Thunder parade. You can be certain this will be shown to the team before team warmuppic.twitter.com/qGq5eBZWWQ

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) June 22, 2025

The Thunder seem to be looking past what could be the most pivotal 48 minutes in franchise history. Meanwhile, the Pacers appear laser-focused. If they needed any extra motivation heading into Game 7, Oklahoma City may have just handed it to them.

The Pacers enter this contest as massive road underdogs with a +6.5 spread.

The matchup between the Pacers and Thunder marks the first NBA Finals Game 7 in nearly a decade.

This series has been everything a Finals showdown should be —competitive, intense, and unpredictable.

The odds are stacked against them, but that’s been the story of their season. Time and again, Indiana has met the moment.
Can they do it one more time on Sunday night?

Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET.

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For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.