List of Indiana Pacers head coaches

The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers play in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team began playing in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), and joined the NBA as part of the ABA–NBA merger. The team has played their home games at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse since the 1999–2000 NBA season. The Pacers are owned by Herbert and Melvin Simon, and David Morway is their general manager.[1] Nate Bjorkgren was the team's head coach in 2020–21 and was fired after one season. Rick Carlisle was hired to replaced Bjorkgren, becoming the coach of the Pacers for the second time.

There have been 14 head coaches for the Pacers franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Larry Staverman, who coached for two seasons.[2] Bobby Leonard is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (985), the most regular-season game wins (529), the most playoff games coached (116), and the most playoff game wins (69).[3] Leonard is also the only coach to win an ABA championship with the Pacers, with 3 (1970, 1972, 1973).[4] Larry Bird, who coached three seasons with the Pacers, is the Pacers' all-time leader for the highest winning percentage with .687.[5] Bird is also the only coach to win an NBA Eastern Conference championship with the Pacers, but lost the 2000 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.[6] Mel Daniels is the only Pacers coach to have coached less than one season.[7] Jack Ramsay, Larry Brown, and Bobby Leonard are the only Pacers' coaches to be elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.[8][9] Ramsay was also named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[10] Jack McKinney and Larry Bird have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, in 1980–81 and 1997–98, respectively, with the Pacers.[11] Dick Versace and Bird have spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Pacers.[5][12] Frank Vogel was named interim head coach after Jim O'Brien was fired midway through the 2010–11 season.[13]

## Key

[edit]

GC | Games coached

|

W | Wins
L | Losses
Win% | Winning percentage
# | Number of coaches[a]
*  | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Pacers
†  | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

## Coaches

[edit]

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.

#  | Name  | Term[b] | GC  | W  | L  | Win%  | GC  | W  | L  | Win%  | Achievements  | Reference

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Regular season  | Playoffs
1  | Larry Staverman | 1967–1968  | 87  | 40  | 47  | .460  | 3  | 0  | 3  | .000  |  | [2]
2  | Bobby Leonard†  | 1968–1980 | 985  | 529  | 456  | .537  | 116  | 69  | 47  | .595  | 3 ABA championships (1970, 1972, 1973)[4] | [3]
3  | Jack McKinney | 1980–1984 | 328  | 125  | 203  | .381  | 2  | 0  | 2  | .000  | 1980–81 NBA Coach of the Year[11] | [14]
4  | George Irvine | 1984–1986 | 164  | 48  | 116  | .293  | —  | —  | —  | —  |  | [15]
5  | Jack Ramsay†  | 1986–1988 | 171  | 79  | 92  | .462  | 4  | 1  | 3  | .250  | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[10] | [8]
6  | Mel Daniels | 1988 | 2  | 0  | 2  | .000  | —  | —  | —  | —  |  | [7]
—  | George Irvine | 1988–1989 | 20  | 6  | 14  | .300  | —  | —  | —  | —  |  | [15]
7  | Dick Versace*  | 1989–1990 | 160  | 73  | 87  | .456  | 3  | 0  | 3  | .000  |  | [12]
8  | Bob Hill | 1990–1993 | 221  | 113  | 108  | .511  | 12  | 3  | 9  | .250  |  | [16]
9  | Larry Brown†  | 1993–1997 | 328  | 190  | 138  | .579  | 38  | 22  | 16  | .579  |  | [9]
10  | Larry Bird*  | 1997–2000 | 214  | 147  | 67  | .687  | 52  | 32  | 20  | .615  | 1997–98 NBA Coach of the Year[11] | [5]
11  | Isiah Thomas | 2000–2003 | 246  | 131  | 115  | .533  | 15  | 5  | 10  | .333  |  | [17]
12  | Rick Carlisle | 2003–2007 | 328  | 181  | 147  | .552  | 35  | 18  | 17  | .514  |  | [18]
13  | Jim O'Brien | 2007–2010 | 290  | 121  | 169  | .417  | —  | —  | —  | —  |  | [19]
14  | Frank Vogel | 2010–2016 | 431  | 250  | 181  | .580  | 59  | 30  | 29  | .508  |  | [20]
15  | Nate McMillan | 2016–2020 | 319  | 183  | 136  | .574  | 19  | 3  | 16  | .158  |  | [21]
16  | Nate Bjorkgren*  | 2020–2021 | 72  | 34  | 38  | .472  | —  | —  | —  | —  |  | [22]
—  | Rick Carlisle | 2021–present  | 246  | 107  | 139  | .435  | 13  | 8  | 9  | .471  |  | [18]

* Larry Bird coached the Pacers to the NBA Finals during the 1999–2000 season.

* Isiah Thomas coached the Pacers from 2000–01 to 2002–03.

* Rick Carlisle coached the Pacers from 2003–04 to 2006–07 and then returned to the team for a second stint starting with the 2021–22 season.

* Frank Vogel, Pacers coach from 2010 to 2016

* Nate McMillan, Pacers coach from 2016–17 to 2020

## Notes

[edit]

* a A running total of the number of coaches of the Pacers. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
* b Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season, except for the seasons spent in the ABA.

## References

[edit]

General

* "Indiana Pacers Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.

Specific

1. ^ "Year by Year with the Pacers". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
2. ^ a b "Larry Staverman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
3. ^ a b "Slick Leonard Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
4. ^ a b "Playoff Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
5. ^ a b c "Larry Bird Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
6. ^ "Shaq Makes Mark in New Millennium". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
7. ^ a b "Mel Daniels Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
8. ^ a b "Jack Ramsay Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
9. ^ a b "Larry Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
10. ^ a b "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
11. ^ a b c "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
12. ^ a b "Dick Versace Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
13. ^ "Pacers relieve O'Brien of coaching duties". NBA.com. January 30, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
14. ^ "Jack McKinney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
15. ^ a b "George Irvine Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
16. ^ "Bob Hill Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
17. ^ "Kevin Pritchard Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
18. ^ a b "Rick Carlisle Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
19. ^ "Jim O'Brien Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
20. ^ "Frank Vogel Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
21. ^ "Nate McMillan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
22. ^ "Nate Bjorkgren Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.

* v
* t
* e

Indiana Pacers head coaches

* Larry Staverman (1967–1968)
* Bobby Leonard (1968–1980)
* Jack McKinney (1980–1984)
* George Irvine (1984–1986)
* Jack Ramsay (1986–1988)
* Mel Daniels (1988)
* George Irvine (1988–1989)
* Dick Versace (1989–1990)
* Bob Hill (1990–1993)
* Larry Brown (1993–1997)
* Larry Bird (1997–2000)
* Isiah Thomas (2000–2003)
* Rick Carlisle (2003–2007)
* Jim O'Brien (2007–2011)
* Frank Vogel (2011–2016)
* Nate McMillan (2016–2020)
* Nate Bjorkgren (2020–2021)
* Rick Carlisle (2021– )

# denotes interim head coach

* v
* t
* e

Indiana Pacers

* Founded in 1967
* Based in Indianapolis, Indiana

Franchise|

* History
* ABA–NBA merger
* All-time roster
* Draft history
* Head coaches
* Seasons
* Current season

Arenas|

* Indiana State Fair Coliseum
* Market Square Arena
* Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Personnel|

Owner(s)
Herb Simon
President
Kevin Pritchard
General manager
Chad Buchanan
Head coach
Rick Carlisle

G League affiliate|

* Indiana Mad Ants

Retired numbers

* 30
* 31
* 34
* 35
* 529

ABA championships|

* 1970
* 1972
* 1973

Rivalries|

* Miami Heat
* New York Knicks

Culture and lore|

* Broadcasters
* The "Save the Pacers" Telethon
* Boomer
* Dancing Harry
* Team Bikeshare
* The Knick-Killer
* The Dunking Dutchman
* Malice at the Palace
* Reb Porter
* Hoosiers

* v
* t
* e

NBA head coaches

Eastern
Conference|

| Atlantic|

* Joe Mazzulla (Boston Celtics)
* Jordi Fernández (Brooklyn Nets)
* Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks)
* Nick Nurse (Philadelphia 76ers)
* Darko Rajaković (Toronto Raptors)

|

Central|

* Billy Donovan (Chicago Bulls)
* Kenny Atkinson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
* J. B. Bickerstaff (Detroit Pistons)
* Rick Carlisle (Indiana Pacers)
* Doc Rivers (Milwaukee Bucks)

Southeast|

* Quin Snyder (Atlanta Hawks)
* Charles Lee (Charlotte Hornets)
* Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat)
* Jamahl Mosley (Orlando Magic)
* Brian Keefe (Washington Wizards)

Western
Conference|

| Northwest|

* Michael Malone (Denver Nuggets)
* Chris Finch (Minnesota Timberwolves)
* Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder)
* Chauncey Billups (Portland Trail Blazers)
* Will Hardy (Utah Jazz)

|

Pacific|

* Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors)
* Tyronn Lue (Los Angeles Clippers)
* JJ Redick (Los Angeles Lakers)
* Mike Budenholzer (Phoenix Suns)
* Doug Christie (Sacramento Kings)

Southwest|

* Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks)
* Ime Udoka (Houston Rockets)
* Taylor Jenkins (Memphis Grizzlies)
* Willie Green (New Orleans Pelicans)
* Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs)

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