NBA Coach Rick Carlisle Praises Fever's Aliyah Boston for Historic Jersey Retirement
The past week has been a busy one when it comes to Indiana Fever players getting their former jerseys retired.
On December 14, Fever forward Lexie Hull was inducted into the Wall of Fame at Central Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, which the Fever congratulated her for in an X post.
congratulations to Lexie Hull for being inducted into the Wall of Fame at her alma mater, Central Valley High School, this evening 🤩 pic.twitter.com/pS1jqGN3UP
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) December 14, 2024
On Wednesday, the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team announced that they would be putting Caitlin Clark's No. 22 jersey in the rafters during their game against the USC Trojans on February 2. While it was already known that Clark's jersey would be retired, that (very fitting) date was news.
To the rafters.
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) December 18, 2024
2.2.25@CaitlinClark22 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/Qjq1Y1VfrZ
And that's not all, as Fever superstar Aliyah Boston had her No. 00 jersey retired at Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts on December 15, making her the first player in school history to have her basketball jersey retired.
Boston isn't the only notable basketball alumni from Worcester, as Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle also went there. And Carlisle gave Boston her flowers over the jersey retirement when speaking with the media on Wednesday.
"Aliyah Boston's jersey was retired at Worcester Academy, which is one of my alma mater's," Carlisle said, per an X post from the Pacers. "Her's is the first-ever jersey retirement at that school. That school has a very rich history, and so she's very, very deserving of that. And congratulations to her on that."
“She’s very, very deserving of that. Congratulations to her on that.”
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 18, 2024
Coach Carlisle sends his congrats to @indianafever center Aliyah Boston on her high school jersey retirement 👏 pic.twitter.com/t5zvBUQf9U
It's cool to see these three Fever standouts get honored by their former teams. Now fans can hope that by the time Clark, Boston, and Hull's respective careers are over, they'll have done enough to get their jerseys retired by the Fever.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.