What The 1985-86 Boston Celtics Look Like Now

Publish date: 2024-05-17

Rick Carlisle spent most of his time as a Celtic competing in the least exciting rodeo in all of sports: bench-riding. Like his teammate Greg Kite, Carlisle only started in one game during the '85-'86 season. Unlike Kite, he didn't bean anybody in the noggin with a basketball. Carlisle saved that until he was coach of the Dallas Mavericks, during which time he angrily kicked a ball into the stands, hitting a kid in the head.

Obviously, Carlisle didn't mean to walk in Kite's footsteps, but there was one Celtics figure he emulated (in a good way) in Dallas: Red Auerbach, Boston's executive extraordinaire. As Carlisle explained, "Red had a great way of making the profound so simple. ... I often think back on some of the things he said to me along the way."

Evidently, some of Red's tips worked because Carlisle was named Coach of the Year during the 2001-02 season and led Dallas to an NBA title in 2011. Before that he had success coaching the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers and led both teams to division championships. His post-Celtics life hasn't been all coaching, though. Carlisle is also a self-taught pianist, and when he isn't dispensing wisdom to the Mavericks, he's piloting airplanes for kicks.

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