Rick Carlisle, The Mad Scientist

“Rick, please stop by my office when you have a second, it’s important.”

Rick Carlisle heard these words from Bill Fitch, his coach at the New Jersey Nets in December 1989, as a direct blow to the pit of his stomach. Fitch did not say anything else at the time, but he knew it. He had only played in five games that year, with a total of two points in all games. He was going to get cut.

“I’m sorry to tell you that we’re going to have to stop counting on you as a player of the Nets,” Fitch said.

With the season already started, he was going to lose his job. He had never been more than a deep rotation player, and since he had spent three years with the Boston Celtics playing and winning a ring…