Report: Pacers Hire Rick Carlisle as Head Coach

Rick Carlisle will return to Indiana in 2021-22 after coaching the Pacers from 2003-07.

The Pacers have hired Rick Carlisle as their next head coach, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. 

Carlisle's deal will be for four years and $29 million, per MacMahon.

Pacers worked quietly and quickly to get a deal done with Rick Carlisle. Team had planned to start interviews with several candidates in Chicago this week. Carlisle was a top assistant to Larry Bird early in his coaching career with Pacers. https://t.co/Hf1POaqEFp

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2021

Carlisle joins Indiana one week after parting ways with the Mavericks. He led Dallas to the playoffs nine times in 13 years, including a championship run in 2011. The Mavs' '20–21 season ended in a first-round loss to the Clippers. 

"After a number of in-person conversations with Mark Cuban over the last week, today I informed him that I will not be returning as head coach," Carlisle said in a statement upon leaving Dallas. "This was solely my decision."

"Dallas will always be home, but I am excited about the next chapter of my coaching career." 

Next season will kick off Carlisle's second stint with the Pacers. He coached Indiana from 2003–07, reaching the postseason four times. The Pacers won 61 games with Carlisle in '03–04, but Indiana's roster was decimated the following season due to the Malice at the Palace. 

Carlisle, 61, has 836 career wins, the third-most among active coaches. He will look to bring Indiana back to the playoffs next season after the Pacers finished 34–38 in 2020–21.