Indiana Pacers to bring back Rick Carlisle as next head coach

Why the Indiana Pacers fired coach Nate Bjorkgren

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The Indiana Pacers are hiring Rick Carlisle as their new head coach, according to a source close to the situation.

Carlisle previously coached the Pacers from 2003-07 and was a Pacers assistant from 1997-00. He spent the past 13 seasons as coach of the Dallas Mavericks before leaving that role this summer. 

© Mark J. Terrill, AP Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle gestures during the second half in Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles on May 22. Carlisle stepped down as coach of the Mavericks on Thursday, the second major departure for that franchise in as many days.

“Dallas will always be home, but I am excited about the next chapter of my coaching career,” Carlisle wrote in a statement to ESPN on June 17.

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With Dallas, he posted a 555-478 record (.537), including the 2010-11 NBA championship. Carlisle guided Dallas to the playoffs six more times after the title win, but lost in the first round each time.

The Pacers fired Nate Bjorkgren after one disastrous season, while the man he replaced, Nate McMillan, is coaching in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

In Carlisle’s first season as Pacers head coach in 2003-04, he led Indiana to the Central Division title (61-21) and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. In all, he went 328-181 (.552) during his first stint with the Pacers.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers to bring back Rick Carlisle as next head coach