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MIAMI, Fla. — Former Virginia men’s basketball player Rick Carlisle won his first NBA Championship as a head coach, leading the Dallas Mavericks over the Miami Heat in six games in the 2011 Finals. Carlisle, who is in his third season in Dallas, coached the Mavericks to the first championship in franchise history.

Carlisle, who won an NBA Championship as a player with the Boston Celtics in 1985-86, becomes the 11th person in NBA history to win a title as both a player and a head coach. Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Red Holzman, Billy Cunningham, Bill Sharman, Buddy Jeannette and George Senesky are the others to do so.

Carlisle becomes the first former Cavalier to win an NBA title as a head coach. He is one of four UVa alumni to win a title as a player, along with Marc Iavaroni (1983 Sixers), Jeff Lamp (1989 Lakers) and Wally Walker (1977 Trail Blazers, 1979 SuperSonics).

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