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.”
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FILE - Indiana Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek watches during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Jan. 2, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE - Indiana Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek talks to forward Obi Toppin (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Dec. 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of Mukalla on Tuesday after a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates arrived for separatist forces in the war-torn country, and warned that it viewed Emirati actions as “extremely dangerous.”
The bombing followed tensions over the advance of Emirates-backed separatist forces known as the Southern Transitional Council. The council and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE's presence, even as others allied with Saudi Arabia demanded that Emirati forces withdraw from Yemen in 24 hours' time.
The UAE called for “restraint and wisdom” and disputed Riyadh’s allegations. But shortly after that, it said it would withdraw its remaining troops in Yemen. It remained unclear whether the separatists it backs will give up the territory they recently took.
The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen's decade-long war, with forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels possibly turning their sights on each other in the Arab world's poorest nation.
It also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. Tuesday’s airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be their most serious confrontation in decades.
“I expect a calibrated escalation from both sides. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council is likely to respond by consolidating control,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the Basha Report, a risk advisory firm.
“At the same time, the flow of weapons from the UAE to the STC is set to be curtailed following the port attack, particularly as Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.”
A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes on Mukalla, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah in the UAE.
“The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” the statement said.
“Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla,” it added.
It wasn't clear if there were any casualties.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry hours later denied it shipped weapons but acknowledged it sent the vehicles “for use by the UAE forces operating in Yemen.” It also claimed Saudi Arabia knew about the shipment ahead of time.
The ministry called for “the highest levels of coordination, restraint and wisdom, taking into account the existing security challenges and threats.”
The Emirati Defense Ministry later said it would withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen over “recent developments and their potential repercussions on the safety and effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations.” It gave no timeline for the withdrawal. The UAE broadly withdrew its forces from Yemen years earlier.
Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces not aligned with the separatists declared a state of emergency Tuesday and ended their cooperation with the UAE. They issued a 72-hour ban on border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia. It remained unclear whether that coalition, governed under the umbrella of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, would remain intact.
The Southern Transitional Council’s AIC satellite news channel aired footage of the strike's aftermath but avoided showing damage to the armored vehicles.
“This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will only strengthen popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a South Arabian state,” the channel said.
The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.
Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, urged combatants to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, like the port, saying any disruption to its operations “risks affecting the already dire humanitarian situation and humanitarian supply chains.”
Mukalla is in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, which the council seized in recent days. The port city is some 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula off East Africa, borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The war there has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.
The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, disrupting regional shipping. The U.S., which earlier praised Saudi-Emirati efforts to end the crisis over the separatists, has launched airstrikes against the rebels under both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Tuesday's strike in Mukalla comes after Saudi Arabia targeted the council in airstrikes Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra.
The council had pushed out forces there affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the anti-Houthi coalition.
Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators have been rallying to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede again.
A statement Tuesday from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry directly linked the council's advance to the Emiratis for the first time.
“The kingdom notes that the steps taken by the sisterly United Arab Emirates are extremely dangerous,” it said.
Allies of the council later issued a statement in which they showed no sign of backing down.
Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
This frame grab from video broadcast by Saudi state television on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, shows what the kingdom describes as a shipment of weapons and armored vehicles coming from the United Arab Emirates, at Mukalla, Yemen. (Saudi state television via AP)
