According to a report from ESPN, Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has resolved a civil lawsuit with his former agent Jarinn Akana. According to attorneys on both sides, a dismissal is on the way.
The trial was scheduled to take place in April 2025 during the NBA playoffs.
Akana filed a lawsuit in December 2023 saying Carlisle didn’t fulfill a promise and breached their contract by not paying the commission he owed. The commission was supposed to come from Carlisle’s contract extension he signed with the Mavericks that began in 2018.
Per court documents, there was no settlement in a mediation that took place over the summer. But now the lawsuit has been “resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”
According to the lawsuit, Carlisle wrote a check to Akana in January 2019 for $200,000 as a reduced commission payment from the Mavs extension, then didn’t pay the commission in later years.
Akana became Carlisle’s agent following the sudden death of agent Dan Fegan, whom Akana worked with. The lawsuit said Carlisle agreed to pay Akana the 3% commission, which was the same Carlisle agreed to pay Fegan prior to his death. But when the first annual payment was due, Carlisle allegedly offered a lower percentage. Akana accepted the percentage given the initial work done by Fegan, who was his mentor.
Carlisle resigned from the Mavericks in June 2021 and was almost immediately hired by the Pacers.
In an answer to the lawsuit, Carlisle denied the allegations. But now it appears the matter has been resolved.
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