Mr.Bottomtooth
06-12-2007, 11:12 AM
Former Pacers coach Carlisle leaving franchise
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: June 12, 2007, 12:06 PM ET
Former Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who had the option of staying with the organization as part of its management structure, announced Tuesday that he is leaving the club.
The Pacers decided on April 25 that Carlisle would not be retained as coach and hired former Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers coach Jim O'Brien as his replacement on May 31.
"I have given notification that I will not be returning to the Indiana Pacers next season as Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations," Carlisle said via e-mail.
"I met with both Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh last Friday and expressed my sincere appreciation for the opportunity to come back next year in a front office capacity, but felt it was better for both the Pacers and myself to part ways at this time," he said in the e-mail. "Jim O'Brien and Dick Harter are great basketball men who I respect and have worked with before, and they will do an outstanding job with this team going forward."
Carlisle, who went 181-147 in four seasons with the Pacers, is believed to be a top candidate for the coaching opening in Seattle that will be filled by new Sonics general manager Sam Presti.
Carlisle told The Associated Press on Monday night that working in television, coaching or taking time off are all immediate possibilities for him. He has worked with ESPN and ABC during the playoffs and said he will continue through the rest of the NBA Finals.
Walsh would not say how the team and Carlisle dealt with the remaining time on the contract.
"I just wish him well," Walsh said.
The Pacers finished this season 35-47, their worst since 1988-89, and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Indiana was 29-24 shortly after the All-Star break, but lost its next 11 games to fall out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
The day he was fired, Carlisle said he enjoyed coaching the team but understood it was time for the Pacers to hear a "new voice."
Carlisle's stay in Indianapolis was marked less about wins and losses than his struggle to manage talented but volatile players. Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson were the two most prominent players in the 2004 brawl between Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans. That fight started the unraveling of a team that had the potential to make several title runs.
In the Pacers' first year under Carlisle in 2003-04, they went 61-21 for the best record in the NBA, and the club reached the Eastern Conference finals. But the Pacers lost more games each of the next three seasons.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2901572
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: June 12, 2007, 12:06 PM ET
Former Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who had the option of staying with the organization as part of its management structure, announced Tuesday that he is leaving the club.
The Pacers decided on April 25 that Carlisle would not be retained as coach and hired former Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers coach Jim O'Brien as his replacement on May 31.
"I have given notification that I will not be returning to the Indiana Pacers next season as Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations," Carlisle said via e-mail.
"I met with both Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh last Friday and expressed my sincere appreciation for the opportunity to come back next year in a front office capacity, but felt it was better for both the Pacers and myself to part ways at this time," he said in the e-mail. "Jim O'Brien and Dick Harter are great basketball men who I respect and have worked with before, and they will do an outstanding job with this team going forward."
Carlisle, who went 181-147 in four seasons with the Pacers, is believed to be a top candidate for the coaching opening in Seattle that will be filled by new Sonics general manager Sam Presti.
Carlisle told The Associated Press on Monday night that working in television, coaching or taking time off are all immediate possibilities for him. He has worked with ESPN and ABC during the playoffs and said he will continue through the rest of the NBA Finals.
Walsh would not say how the team and Carlisle dealt with the remaining time on the contract.
"I just wish him well," Walsh said.
The Pacers finished this season 35-47, their worst since 1988-89, and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Indiana was 29-24 shortly after the All-Star break, but lost its next 11 games to fall out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
The day he was fired, Carlisle said he enjoyed coaching the team but understood it was time for the Pacers to hear a "new voice."
Carlisle's stay in Indianapolis was marked less about wins and losses than his struggle to manage talented but volatile players. Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson were the two most prominent players in the 2004 brawl between Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans. That fight started the unraveling of a team that had the potential to make several title runs.
In the Pacers' first year under Carlisle in 2003-04, they went 61-21 for the best record in the NBA, and the club reached the Eastern Conference finals. But the Pacers lost more games each of the next three seasons.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2901572