The NBA Finals are here, and it’s a showdown for the ages: Tyrese Haliburton’s lightning-fast Indiana Pacers are set to clash with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ridiculously talented Oklahoma City Thunder. We’re all hyped for the on-court fireworks, right? But what if I told you there’s this incredible, almost unbelievable backstory connecting the two masterminds who built these Finals teams? We’re talking about Pacers coach Rick Carlisle and the Thunder’s genius architect, Sam Presti.
It’s the kind of story that makes you love the interconnectedness of the NBA. Rick Carlisle, now leading the Pacers, was recently reflecting on the journey to this Finals matchup. He started by giving major props to OKC, saying, “I have such great respect for what Oklahoma is building here. I know Mark Daigneault pretty well, and Sam Presti and I go way back.” And “way back” is no exaggeration.
Carlisle then took everyone on a little trip down memory lane, back to the fall of 2000. He was taking a year off from coaching, doing some broadcasting, and got invited to the San Antonio Spurs’ training camp. And who was there, just starting out, an intern trying to make his way? A young Sam Presti. Carlisle, a Boston guy, noted that Presti, also from the Boston area, was a die-hard Celtics fan. “He actually remembered when I played, which shocked me because he seemed way too young for that,“ Carlisle recalled with a laugh.
During that training camp, the veteran coach and the eager intern ended up having a couple of dinners together. Presti, hungry for guidance, picked Carlisle’s brain. Carlisle said Presti asked him, “What can I do to get a job out of this?” And the advice Carlisle gave him? It was simple, direct, and incredibly powerful: “Become a guy they can’t live without.”
Talk about a piece of advice that landed.
(This is a developing story…)
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