Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said during a recent interview with HoopsHype that he believes assistant coach Jenny Boucek could become the NBA’s first female head coach in the future.
Rick Carlisle added Jenny Boucek to his Dallas Mavericks coaching staff in 2018, brought her over to Indiana Pacers in 2021
Boucek, who turns 51 on Dec. 20, was named an assistant coach of the Pacers in July 2021, remaining on the coaching staff of Carlisle, who hired her to join the Dallas Mavericks‘ staff in 2018.
She became the first female assistant coach in Mavs history.
“Jenny Boucek is the only female on the front of an NBA bench who’s also a coordinator and is one of a select few who could become the NBA’s first female head coach someday,” Carlisle told HoopsHype.
"She’s someone that's coming into a male-dominated world and continues to garner more respect.”
tonight we're celebrating assistant coach Jenny Boucek and all the women in sports who continue to make their mark alongside @GainbridgeSport 💙 pic.twitter.com/bZ7kAYcfDT
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 10, 2024
The 5-foot-8 Boucek played four years (1992-96) of women’s basketball at the University of Virginia. She went undrafted in the 1997 WNBA draft and signed with the Cleveland Rockers after an open tryout.
However, Boucek’s WNBA career was short-lived after she suffered a career-ending back fracture in her rookie season. She played in just 10 games (one start), averaging 1.8 points, 1.0 rebound, and 11.2 minutes per contest.
Boucek was named a WNBA All-Star Game head coach in 2007
Boucek returned to the Rockers in time for the 1998 season, but she did not appear in a regular-season game. The Nashville native then signed with Keflavík in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild in November 1997.
She helped the club win the Icelandic championship and the Icelandic Basketball Cup. The former Cavalier was also named the Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year in 1998.
Following her playing career, Boucek began her coaching career in the WNBA during the 1999 season as an assistant with the Washington Mystics.
In 2000, she joined the Miami Sol, also as an assistant coach, for three seasons. Three years later, Boucek joined the Seattle Storm as an assistant coach. She helped the Storm win the 2004 WNBA Finals against the Connecticut Sun.
Seattle then hired Boucek as head coach in January 2015. Though, the Storm fired her in August 2017 after compiling a 36-58 record for the WNBA franchise.
Before joining the Mavericks, Boucek served as the Sacramento Kings’ player development coach in October 2017. She became just the third female assistant coach in NBA history.
