Rick Carlisle ignores question, furious over OKC painting buses early for victory parade

The Indiana Pacers are set to play for the NBA title tonight in a winner-take-all Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But a video circulating social media has caught like wildfire, even garnering the attention of Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle.

The video in question? It showed team buses meant for a championship celebration inside a garage.

The buses, painted with championship verbiage, in the color scheme of and including the logos of Oklahoma City, just became instant bulletin board material. And you can bet Carlisle plans to use it.

According to Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star, Rick Carlisle admitted he saw the video of the buses. And he was asked a question by reporters but immediately responded, about the video: “That’s all I’m thinking about.”

Added Rachel Nichols, from the press conference: “I just saw a video that’s probably going to go viral, with open-top buses presumably for the parade, already painted with them as champions,” Carlisle said. “So that’s what I’m thinking about right now.”

You can see the video of the buses below. There are several of them.

In fairness, they put this on a tee for Rick Carlisle. pic.twitter.com/ZoCYwfBUzz

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 22, 2025

Rick Carlisle is a masterful motivator, and the leak of the video will likely provide him plenty of ammunition heading into tonight’s anticipated rock fight. The Pacers fell behind 3-2 in the NBA Finals but rallied to win on Thursday night, forcing a Game 7.

Of course, it’ll be an uphill climb for the Pacers. The Thunder are playing at home, where they’ve been tough to beat all year. However, Indiana won Game 1 of the series in Oklahoma City, so the Pacers know it can be done.

Tonight’s game is slated to begin at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN+. Oklahoma City enters as a 6.5-point favorite in the contest. With plenty of motivation, it’ll be interesting to see how Indiana gets out of the gates.