Bill Walton Reveals Interesting Nicknames for Rick Carlisle During Celtics Days

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle won a ring with the Boston Celtics in 1986, and apparently earned himself some interesting nicknames from his legendary teammates in the process.

Anyone who has heard Bill Walton call a basketball game knows what they’re getting – Grateful Dead references, over-the-top praise and criticism, and outlandish stories. And last night’s game between the University of Oregon – Go Ducks! – and the University of Arizona was no different.

During the game, which was won by the Ducks, snapping Arizona’s 49-game home winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation, Walton brought out some Jerry Garcia tea, at one point rubbed dirt on his arms and face for some reason, and went on his usual spree of tangents about mostly nothing at all.

But one of those anecdotes happened to reveal a couple of interesting nicknames for Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle that won’t show up on Basketball-Reference.

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When told by Dave Pasch, his broadcast partner, that Carlisle had offered salutations to Walton, his former teammate with the Celtics, the off-the-wall Hall of Famer offered this response: “Flipper? Teriyaki Chicken?”

All Pasch, likely weary from his time spent with Walton, could do was muster an incredulous, “what?”.

Luckily Walton elaborated.

Apparently those were nicknames given to Carlisle during his time with the Celtics, and while we didn’t get to hear about how Carlisle earned the nickname “Flipper”, some insight was offered in regards to “Teriyaki Chicken”.

According to Walton, Larry Bird had the hookup at a local Boston restaurant, and Celtics ate for free. He shared the information with his teammates, and Carlisle took advantage. From Walton:

"“(Bird) didn’t know that Rick would eat every meal, all year long there. And he always ate teriyaki chicken. So Larry just started calling him Teriyaki Chicken.”"

Was it just an acid flashback from Walton? Perhaps. But who wouldn’t gorge themselves on free teriyaki chicken every day if given the chance? And earning a nickname from a guy with the nickname “Larry Legend” isn’t so bad. Even if it is something like “Teriyaki Chicken”.