The Indiana Pacers may be chasing their first-ever NBA championship, but behind their surprising Finals run is a story that’s even more powerful than any game-winner. While most eyes were on Tyrese Haliburton’s late dagger in Game 1, the cameras quickly found assistant coach Jenny Boucek calmly directing traffic in the huddle. A quick rewind shows what Pacers fans have known for months: she’s not just part of the staff — she’s been a key reason the Pacers are here at all.

And here’s the kicker — Boucek didn’t just sacrifice sleep or time like most coaches. She once risked everything for the chance to become a mother. When she signed with the Pacers in 2021, she had one clause that told the league exactly what kind of woman she is: if a road trip lasted more than three nights, her daughter Rylie was coming along. Not maybe. Not if convenient. Was.

That transparency is part of what makes the Pacers special. The team pays for Rylie and another adult — usually one of Boucek’s parents — to travel with her on long road trips. Carlisle didn’t just allow it. He encouraged it. “He’s promoted me way outside my comfort zone,” Boucek said, “but always made sure we were honest about what I needed to be as a mom.”

Boucek didn’t always plan to be a coach — or even stay in the game. A 1,000-point scorer at Virginia, she wanted to be a doctor. But when the WNBA launched in 1997, she made the Cleveland Rockers roster and saw how much it meant. “I saw grown women in tears at our games,” she said. “Representing our league meant representing all the noes they’d been told. This league mattered.”

After an injury ended her playing days in 1998, she pivoted to coaching. But it wasn’t until 2017, while on the Kings’ staff, that she made one of the hardest decisions of her life. At 43, with no partner and no guarantees, Boucek began IVF. Five rounds later, and just 12 days after being hired by the Mavericks, Rylie was born.

“I weighed all the cost. At that time, interest wasn’t covering it. If it cost me everything, my career, every penny, every relationship, it was worth it for me,” the 51-year-old said.

“I didn’t want anybody to know [I was pregnant] because I didn’t want the coaches to treat me different,” Boucek said. “As women, a lot of times we do have to make that choice. Can we keep climbing the ladder and be a great mom, or do we have to forfeit one dream for the other?“

She says she didn’t set out to be the first single mother on an NBA bench, or the first woman to run a team’s defense in the Finals. But here she is. With the Pacers thriving and Rylie by her side, Boucek has already proven something that no game film could: you can build a winning system and a family, and you don’t need to choose.

Now with the Pacers, she’s doing both — and changing the game while she’s at it.

The Pacers’ defensive rise? Thank Jenny Boucek

It was no accident that ABC’s cameras caught Boucek in the huddle after Tyrese Haliburton’s buzzer-beater in Game 1 of the Finals. It was Boucek, not head coach Rick Carlisle, who was drawing up the defensive scheme for the final play, one that shut down the Thunder and sealed the game. Carlisle had made it her role from day one.

“Rick said to me, ‘I need this to be your role this year,’” Boucek told ESPN. “Sometimes I feel like he’s throwing me in the deep end and saying, ‘You’re either going to sink or swim. But I believe in you.’ And when somebody believes in you, you want to do your part.”

That belief has been rewarded. The Pacers have jumped from 24th in defense last year to 14th this season, cracking the top 10 after January. Former Bulls coach Jim Boylen, now a defensive consultant in Indiana, called her an “elite communicator” and “elite teacher.” Forward Pascal Siakam added, “Jenny has been awesome. She gives me great insights and helped me adapt to the system fast.”

While most NBA assistants work behind the scenes, Boucek’s impact is impossible to miss because the Pacers’ defense is the glue holding their playoff magic together. Boucek’s basketball mind is no accident. Her mother’s side of the family is steeped in psychiatry and neurology; her grandfather helped pioneer deep brain stimulation. Her father and uncle specialized in pediatric heart transplants. One even worked on the famed Baby Fae baboon heart case.

“My lineage has passions for systematic problem-solving and innovation,” she explained. “And a love for people. But also, lots of researchers wired to challenge the status quo.” Boucek’s entire life reflects that mindset. She studies child development the same way she breaks down film. She maps out parenting strategies by age stage and constantly checks in with Carlisle to adjust her coaching role based on Rylie’s needs.

Like all assistants, Boucek re-watches every Pacers game at night, chopping film and prepping teaching points. But unlike any other coach in the league, she’s also planning kids’ activities for the next morning. She’s not just helping build a title contender. She’s redefining what success looks like for working moms — in the NBA and beyond.

If the Pacers pull off the impossible this postseason, don’t be surprised if there’s a small Rylie-sized championship T-shirt being printed alongside everyone else’s.