Rick Carlisle is the 11th winningest coach in NBA history. He won a milestone 1,000th win Thursday night in Charlotte as his Pacers defeated the Hornets.
Carlisle is someone who has coached among two generations or eras of the NBA if you will…the late 90’s first as bench coach for Larry Bird under the Pacers, reaching the NBA Finals in 2002; then a man on his own starting in 2002 in Detroit as the Pistons head coach…an NBA title in Dallas in 2011, and a Game 7 in the Finals last season against the Thunder.
| Rank | Coach | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gregg Popovich | 1,390 |
| 2 | Don Nelson | 1,335 |
| 3 | Lenny Wilkens | 1,332 |
| 4 | Jerry Sloan | 1,221 |
| 5 | Pat Riley | 1,210 |
| 6 | Doc Rivers | 1,176 |
| 7 | George Karl | 1,175 |
| 8 | Phil Jackson | 1,155 |
| 9 | Larry Brown | 1,098 |
| 10 | Rick Adelman | 1,042 |
| 11 | Rick Carlisle | 1,000 |
Source: Basketball-Reference NBA Coach Register (regular-season wins) as of Jan 8th 2025.
It’s hard to say exactly what makes Carlisle tick, I don’t think anyone has totally figured him out, but it’s best described as a mix of old and new, tactical but now free-flowing lately with the Pacers. There was once a time when Carlisle was a bit of micromanager calling out plays from the sidelines relentlessly., But he was a micromanager who learned and changed and now leads a team that emphasizes shots per game, touches, ball work and “pace” as in pushing the ball, wearing out the defense.
Carlisle can be demonstrative to refs, has a little tolerance for non-thoughtful postgame press conference questions but is very thoughtful with charity work in Indianapolis called Drive & Dish https://pacersfoundation.org/initiatives/drive-dish/ . Carlisle has appeared with Bruce Hornsby and Hootie and the Blowfish in concert as a pianist. Carlisle is a very good piano player. He has said he relates improvisational jazz to basketball offensively. He’s a guy who respects veteran players, but wants to give the young guy an opportunity. He’s also a licensed pilot.
It’s hard to measure NBA head coaches, because most will not win multiple championships. In the last 25 years, only Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, and Erik Spoelstra have won more than one title—Kerr in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022; Popovich in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014; and Spoelstra in 2012 and 2013. Across NBA history, only 12 head coaches have won multiple championships. Kerr stands alone in the last decade as the only coach with more than one title.
Carlisle may be a bit understated and not a classic players’ coach but he ranks up there with the best.
