The Pacers are 1 win from an NBA title. Assistant coach Jenny Boucek is 1 win from that, and history

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Indiana Pacers assistant Jenny Boucek isn’t so concerned right now with becoming the first woman to be a primary assistant coach on a team that wins the NBA championship.

She just wants to be part of a title.

There is a barrier that could be broken in these NBA Finals, and Boucek is fully aware of that. She is the first woman to be part of the front-row assistants (it means exactly that: the coaches who sit on the front row of the bench) for a team in the NBA Finals, and she and the Pacers will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 to decide this season’s title on Sunday night.

Being in that role has led to the spotlight shining on her in these finals, though Boucek has found ways to not let it be overwhelming.

“I’ve been around long enough to have experience and felt where people build you up and those same people tear you back down. People jump on the bandwagon, they jump off. People love you one day, they bash you the next,” Boucek said. “Just going through that a few times in different ways in my career has really taught me to tune it all out and not take in the compliments and the praise. And then that way, you’re protected from the criticism. You can just focus on what you’re in control of.”

She played briefly in the WNBA and overseas before becoming a coach. Ron Rothstein – who was the first Miami Heat coach before becoming coach of the short-lived WNBA’s Miami Sol – had Boucek on his staff there and even now, more than 20 years later, still raves about the kind of coach and person Boucek is.

Working with an established NBA coach like Rothstein helped give Boucek some credibility, and others soon saw why he was so high on her talent and smarts as a coach. When Rick Carlisle was coaching Dallas, Boucek – who was coaching in the WNBA at the time – spent a few weeks around the Mavericks to learn whatever she could.

Carlisle, now the Indiana coach and someone who didn’t think twice about having Boucek on his staff, was impressed by what she brought to the table and never forgot.

“It was clear to me she was a prospect – not only to be an assistant coach in the NBA, but to perhaps one day be an NBA head coach,” Carlisle said.

Boucek is in Carlisle’s ear probably more than anyone in games, and she’s tasked with essentially leading the Pacers’ defensive plan. Pacers assistant coach Jim Boylen, another big fan of Boucek, also is involved in the defense.

Pacers forward Pascal Siakam had a new system to learn when he was traded to Indiana from Toronto in the middle of last season. Boucek basically became his tutor for all things Pacers.

“She’s been great that way,” Siakam said. “She’s a great communicator. And also, I like her positive just energy about everything. It’s mostly needed. Even in those moments where sometimes it felt like we didn’t do well or whatever, she’s always bringing that positivity, which is needed for coaching.”

She’s made history before. Boucek was part of the first all-female staff to win a WNBA title, when Seattle beat Connecticut in 2004. At the time, she didn’t know how big of a deal that was.

But now, she knows what an Indiana win on Sunday would mean as far as a female coach breaking yet another barrier.

“I was young and naive, and it meant nothing to me at the time,” Boucek said of being on that all-female Seattle staff in 2004. “But now, looking back and reflecting on things, I can see how that meant a lot to a lot of women. Right now, it doesn’t mean much. I just want to win a championship. I just want to be one of the guys. I want to do my part. But I’m sure at some point we’ll look back at it, if and when that happens, and hopefully that’s something that can be used for greater good.”