MIAMI – The NBA Finals not only feature elements of the Miami Heat’s past in Thomas Bryant and James Johnson standing in Indiana Pacers colors, but another element of Miami pro basketball lore also is in play.
A Miami Sol element. As in South Florida’s short-lived WNBA franchise. As in a Pacers assistant coach who traces her lineage back to the side of former Heat coach and current Heat television analyst Ron Rothstein.
Seen now on the national stage of the championship series against the Oklahoma City Thunder as it headed into Sunday night’s Game 2 has been Jenny Boucek, an assistant to Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. Boucek’s coaching career took off while working with Rothstein and longstanding Rothstein assistant Tony Fiorentino with a Sol roster that included current Heat executive Ruth Hunter (then Ruth Riley).
In all, there have been 15 female assistants to work on NBA benches over the years, with Boucek among those still so positioned, a group that also has included the likes of Nancy Lieberman, Becky Hammon, Kara Lawson, Kristi Toliver and Teresa Weatherspoon.
After a brief WNBA playing career following a successful run at the University of Virginia, Boucek was added to Rothstein’s Sol staff for a three-season run that began in 2000, with those games played at what now is known as Kaseya Center.
From there, there was time coaching with WNBA franchises in Seattle and Sacramento before a brief NBA turn as a developmental assistant with the Sacramento Kings. And then came a bond that has endured to these NBA Finals with Carlisle, first at his side with the Dallas Mavericks and now with the Pacers.
Early during this coaching ride, Boucek noted, “Ron Rothstein continues to mentor me. When I go back to Miami, people there refer to me as his disciple.”
Now it is Carlisle who has championed her value to the league.
“She’s proven herself,” Carlisle said during a Finals media session, with the series moving to Sunday’s second game at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. “She’s been a coach for over 20 years. She started off with Ron Rothstein I think down in Miami with the Sol. She became a first-time head coach with (WNBA) Sacramento in the early 2000s, was a head coach with Seattle during a period leading up to their most recent championship She has been a lead assistant on two championship teams in Seattle with other head coaches.”
Carlisle said it has been as simple as the best person for the job.
“I got to know her probably 10 or 12 years ago,” Carlisle continued. “She came into one of our camps in Dallas, wanted to come for an entire month to see how we did things, how we put things in, et cetera. Got to know her better there.
“It was clear to me, she was still in the W at the time, it was clear to me she was a prospect not only to be an assistant coach in the NBA, but to perhaps one day be an NBA head coach.”
Helping, Carlisle said, prepare the Pacers for this moment.
“She’s done a great job this year with our defensive stuff. Her and Jim Boylen really collaborate on a lot of that stuff,” Carlisle said. “She’s a tremendous worker. She is amazing with relationships and with players.
“We wouldn’t be in the position we’re in right now without her contributions. That’s certain.”
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam seconded that notion during his media session ahead of Sunday’s game, noting how Boucek helped ease his transition from the Toronto Raptors.
“Jenny has been awesome,” he said. “For me certainly, being able to talk to her, get insights on the games. I think when I came in, I was used to a lot of different things. She mostly does defense and stuff, but I was used to a lot of things from Toronto, the stuff that we used to do.
“And coming back to Indy and having a different system and different things, so I had to really adapt to a lot of things, and she’s been really helpful for me in that matter. We talk a lot about those things, and she gives me super great insights on — on what we want to do and what we want to accomplish as a team.”
A complement, Siakam said, to Carlisle.
“She’s a great communicator,” he said. “And also, I like her positive just energy about everything. It’s mostly needed; even in those moments where sometimes it felt like we didn’t do well or whatever, she’s always bringing that positivity, which is needed for coaching.”
No, no more Sol, not after those three seasons under Rothstein, including a 20-12 run in 2001 that ended with a loss in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals. But the start of a pathway to this potential NBA championship moment.
“She’s done amazing for us,” Siakam said, “and she’s a big help, not only for me but for the whole team.”