Pacers hire Carlisle for head coach position

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The Indiana Pacers appointed Rick Carlisle as their new head coach Thursday.

"The Indiana Pacers announced Thursday they have reached an agreement with Rick Carlisle to become head coach. Per team policy, the terms of the agreement were not disclosed," the NBA Eastern Conference franchise said in a statement.

Carlisle, 61, previously coached the Pacers from 2003-2007.

"My sincere thanks to Herb Simon, Kevin Pritchard and the entire Pacers organization for the opportunity to come back to basketball's heartland," Carlisle said.

Simon is the owner of the Pacers, while Pritchard is serving as the president of basketball operations for the Pacers.

Then Carlisle joined the Dallas Mavericks to lead the Western Conference team to their first and only NBA title in 2011.

Carlisle was a longtime Mavericks coach (2008-2021) but resigned from the job on June 17.

He was honored as the 2002 NBA coach of the year while he was coaching the Detroit Pistons.