J.B. Bickerstaff Chosen to Succeed Rick Carlisle as NBCA President
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Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle will end his two-decade tenure as president of the National Basketball Coaches Association at the close of December, he told reporters Monday night in Boston.
Carlisle, who has led the NBCA since 2005, said Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was elected by the union’s membership to take over the post. Bickerstaff, 46, currently serves as the association’s vice president and treasurer.
“I decided about a year ago that this would be my last year,” Carlisle said before the Pacers faced the Celtics. “We’ve held our elections, and the membership has made a tremendous and phenomenal choice to succeed me, and that’s going to be J.B. Bickerstaff.”
Carlisle praised Bickerstaff as “a trusted friend,” noting the coach’s success in guiding Cleveland from the draft lottery to the postseason and his more recent work during the past year and a half in Detroit. “He’s a great leader and passionate guy for coaches,” Carlisle added. “I congratulate J.B. This will be a life-changing experience for him. It has been for me.”
The outgoing president also revealed that he and the NBCA are working to help Bickerstaff’s father, longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff—now a senior advisor with the Pistons—secure a nomination to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.
Carlisle’s term officially ends on December 31, after which Bickerstaff will assume the presidency.
Source: Hoops Rumors
