If looks can deceive, then are we sure it’s Rick Carlisle stalking the sidelines in front of the Pacers bench?
Yes, all signs point to him being the rightful heir to Indiana’s throne. But this isn’t just basketball. It’s showbiz, too. And you’d have to admit, it would make for quite the story if Carlisle’s Pacers weren’t Carlisle’s at all.
In the end, Carlisle is the man tasked with leading Indiana to the NBA’s promised land. Through the opening two rounds, he has performed that role admirably: following a Game 7 win in Madison Square Garden, the Pacers find themselves in their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2013-14.
Carlisle’s function in that accomplishment can’t be overstated. He has more than three decades of coaching experience. Moreover, that’s more than three decades worth of time to refine his tactical identity and make the commensurate changes necessary to see it come to fruition on the floor.
Nevertheless, in another universe, he’s an actor-comedian whose expressive countenance and penchant for slapstick humor made him a global superstar.
With that, here’s the tea on the similarities that exist between Carlisle and his lookalike, acclaimed actor and funnyman Jim Carrey.
No one talks about how Rick Carlisle and Jim Carrey are twins pic.twitter.com/WlQHT4IcDH
— Tony Roundtree (@Tonywithyy) May 9, 2024
Is Rick Carlisle actually Jim Carrey? pic.twitter.com/BwDAsYRF4s
— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) April 20, 2020
Rick Carlisle lookalikes: Explaining the Jim Carrey doppleganger memes with Pacers coach
Carlisle and Carrey share a great many facial features with one another, from their high cheekbones and dimples to their warm and endearing eyes. The two have been compared to one another for decades, mostly on account of them being quite public-facing figures: Carlisle is a former NBA player who has been coaching professionally since 1989 while Carrey has been a fixture on the big and small screens alike for the past four decades.
Both have had their say regarding the comparison. The fact that it has continued into 2024 could be a good indicator that it is an accurate one.
“I swear, all the time, on my Twitter, I get people saying that I look like the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, like I look like Rick Carlisle. I don’t know, I don’t get it, I have seen the guy, I’m not sure,” Carrey said during an appearance on “The David Letterman Show” a few years back.
Carlisle, for his part, has leaned into the comparison over the years. He even sported a shirt featuring a not-so-subtle reference to his doppelgänger back in Halloween 2015.
We think Coach Carlisle has finally accepted the fact that he & @JimCarrey are one in the same. #MavsHalloween 🎃 👻 pic.twitter.com/sXp0qc8mqZ
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) October 26, 2015
So, do the two look alike? We’ll let you be the judge. Just make sure you squint if you want to see the differences between the two.
Separated at Birth: Rick Carlisle and Jim Carrey.
‘NBA Doppelgangers’ http://t.co/fBt0e2YFcp by @RTNBA pic.twitter.com/1B9oitozBK
— NBA Meme Team (@NBAMemeTeam) May 23, 2014