Rival Coach Told Pacers’ Rick Carlisle Indiana is ‘Changing the Game’

Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA: Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle talks with referee Josh Tiven after a call following a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle may be more modest than many, but even he had to concede that his methods are having major ripple effects league-wide.

During a recent conversation on 107.5 FM The Fan's The Fan Morning Show, Carlisle revealed that several NBA figures have approach him about his pace-and-space approach to the game.

"All the credit goes to the players for this," Carlisle said. "Talking to NBA people, running into people in Vegas [during Summer League], I was in a Zoom a couple of days ago with our executive committee of the coaches' association, along with some members of the competition committee."

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Carlisle has been embracing an epic run-and-gun offense, but he's also been unleashing an extensive effort on the other end, which has not gone unnoticed.

"In fact I ran into an assistant coach with one of the Eastern Conference teams about five days ago, down here where we are in South Carolina. And he said, 'You guys are changing the game, the way the game is played — the full court pressure, the way people are looking at roster construction, all that kind of stuff.' And I've gotten that comment or sentiment on several occasions, and so obviously our fans should be very proud, our players should be very proud."

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It will be fascinating to see how Indiana adapts without two critical cogs in the Pacers' sharpshooting machine: former 2024-25 starters Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner. Haliburton is rehabilitating an Achilles tendon rupture, while Turner departed for the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency.

Turner, along with Pascal Siakam, anchored Indiana's frontcourt defense, while Haliburton quarterback the Pacers' fast breaking offense.

"Myself and the coaching staff [are] proud," Carlisle added. "But the work goes on. It never gets easier. To set a standard is one thing, to maintain a standard and then work to increase that standard is something totally different."

Last year, Indiana rode this approach all the way to its first NBA Finals berth since 2000. The Pacers fell in seven games, after Haliburton tore said Achilles in the fourth quarter of the series' final contest.

Now, normal starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard will replace Haliburton at the point — which could deplete the energy of the club's best perimeter defender on the defensive end — while reserve wing Bennedict Mathurin will replace Nembhard. Reserves Isaiah Jackson, James Wiseman and fresh trade acquisition Jay Huff will duke it out to replace Turner.

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