Rick was born as Richard Preston Carlisle. He is an NBA head coach with the Indiana Pacers. He was a 6’5” Guard who played for the New Jersey Nets. At the start of his career, Carlisle was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 3rd round of the 1984 NBA draft.
Rick was brought up in Lisbon, New York. He attended the Worchester Academy and played with the University of Maine before switching to the University of Virginia in 1984. After his graduation, he was picked up by the Boston Celtics.
He was waived off by the Celtics in 1987 and in the same year, he signed up as a free agent with the New York Knickerbockers. In the year 1989, Rick signed up as an unrestricted free agent with the New Jersey Nets. Rick was waived off by the Jersey Nets by the end of 1989.
| Position | Shooting Guard |
| Born | 27 Oct 1959 |
| Nationality |
United States
|
| Nickname | Rick |
| Team History | |
New Jersey Nets
|
1989 |
New York
|
1987 - 1988 |
Boston
|
1984 - 1987 |
Rick tallied a total of 422 points, 141 rebounds and 201 assists from a total of 188 games that he played. He scored his career best of 2.8 points per game for the 1987-88 season that he played with the New York Knickerbockers. Rick gained his highest free throw percentage (0.909) while playing for the Knickerbockers during the same season.
In 1989, he joined as an assistant coach to the New Jersey Nets. 1994 saw Rick assist the head coach P. J. Carlesimo at the Portland Trail Blazers for 3 seasons. In 1997, Rick joined the Indiana Pacers assisting the head coach Larry Bird. During this time as an assistant coach to the Pacers, Rick helped the Pacers reap two of their best seasons ever.
He was appointed as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons for their 2001-02 season. Rick helped the Pistons scale up to new heights rewarding himself the Coach of the Year in 2002. Unfortunately, the Pistons replaced him by Larry Brown, thus terminating his contract mid-way.
Rick went back to the Indiana Pacers in the year 2003. He served the Pacers as a head coach and led them to an astounding season records (91.4 points per game).
The end of the 2006-07 season also marked the end of Rick’s tenure as the head coach of the Pacers. After leaving Indiana, Rick served as a studio analyst for ESPN before taking up the post of a head coach for Dallas Mavericks. Rick signed a 4 year contract with the Mavericks in 2008. He led the Mavs from 2008 to 2021, before being dismissed and later joining the Pacers in June 2021.
