Rick Carlisle pulled a trick out of the Miami Heat’s Pat Riley’s playbook to win the NBA finals.
Back in 2006, the Miami Heat were up 3-2 and heading back for a Game 6 in Dallas. Then Heat coach Riley told his players to only pack enough clothes for one game’s stay — they were not going to be hanging around for a Game 7. It worked, the Heat got the ring.
In 2011 the role was reversed — Dallas was up 3-2 and headed back to Miami. And Mavs coach Carlisle pulled the same trick having his team only pack enough clothes for one game, reports Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register. The strategy is two-for-two so far.
How did Carlisle hear of Riley’s trick? Self-improvement guru Tony Robbins told him. The story came out at a Robbins seminar in Los Angeles this week that Carlisle and writer Ding (and Oprah) were attending.
Ding adds this footnote about the different personalities of the coaches. Riley went public and told the media what he did after his Game 6 win. Some members of the press had heard Carlisle had done it as well.
