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 Herb Simon, and Chad Buchanan 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

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

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2024–25 season.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
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 324 157 167 .485 50 23 17 .575 [18]

Notes

References

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