Carr to go, says Boston Globe

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   [INLINE]
   
Carr's route: He'll surrender jobs, remain with team

   By Peter May, Globe Staff, 04/21/97
   
   M.L. Carr says he's going to take some time at the beach this week and
   ponder his future with the Boston Celtics. To coach or not to coach?
   To oversee or not to oversee?
   
   The decision already has been made.
   
   Sources have told the Globe that Carr will surrender both his head
   coaching job and his job as director of basketball operations. He
   will, however, remain an active part of the Celtics, possibly getting
   involved in some way in ownership, which always has been his main
   goal.
   
   It also was learned that the Celtics have settled on the person to
   replace Carr in the front office. The identity of that individual
   could not be determined, but don't be surprised if, after all the
   fuming, fussing and non-sightings, that Larry Bird's name emerges.
   
   Asked to comment, Carr said simply, ``That's premature. That's all I'm
   going to say. You're being premature.''
   
   Carr told a throng of hungry reporters after yesterday's fitting
   finale - a 125-94 loss to Toronto - that he would take some vacation
   time this week and that no decision will be announced while he's
   sittin' on the dock of the bay. He deflected repeated queries about
   his future, but did note that ``as far as coaching goes, it's
   management who picks the coach, not the other way around.'' That
   seemed to be a shot at those who have dared to express interest in the
   job or who set conditions on whether they would accept it.
   
   There has been little doubt that Carr would surrender one of the two
   jobs at the end of the season - and the coaching position seemed to be
   the most likely. He was quite aware that Bird was calling various
   candidates, including Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, to gauge interest,
   something he admitted for the first time yesterday.
   
   ``You're always looking at others,'' he said. ``You always want to
   consider all the options.''
   
   But he also knows what he is - and isn't - and he's not a coach, at
   least not by the rugged and demanding standards of the NBA. He feels
   he has done what's needed to be done, which is get the Celtics back in
   a position to compete again. What better time to step back?
   
   The same can be said for his front office job. Until his master stroke
   last June - the Eric Montross trade to Dallas - Carr's record as a
   director of basketball operations was decidedly underwhelming. Pitino
   said he would not even think about working for the Celtics with Carr
   as his boss. Bird, he said, would be a different story. Bird also has
   been given permission to speak to the Pacers' Larry Brown and Brown
   might feel more inclined to listen with a different front office.
   
   Carr's signings over the last three years - Dominique Wilkins, Pervis
   Ellison, Dana Barros, Greg Minor, Dino Radja - have left the Celtics
   with virtually no salary cap flexibility. Again, what better time to
   step back with the Montross trade as your final act and legacy?
   
   That deal, which enabled the Celtics to draft Antoine Walker and get
   Dallas' first pick this year - well could represent two of the first
   six picks in the NBA draft.
   
   There will be optimism run amok that night, as there should be,
   because the Celtics either will get two excellent prospects or make a
   big trade. But once the draft is over, the remnants of Carr's earlier
   moves still will be around and this is a team that has not won more
   than 35 games in any of the last four seasons.
   
   Carr always has said he would step aside if he felt it was in the best
   interests of the organization - ``we are going to make the right
   decisions,'' he said repeatedly yesterday - and that time apparently
   is now. He has established what he called ``a very special
   relationship'' with Gaston and being involved in some kind of
   ownership situation would satisfy a long-term goal as well as give him
   financial security.
   
   ``Paul Gaston and I are on the same page,'' he said. ``We know from
   whence we came and where we need to go. Our relationship is more than
   employer and employee. In the three years I've had this job'' - as
   basketball operations director - ``we have become friends along the
   way.''
   
   As for Bird, he has been curiously elusive since dropping several
   bombs in an interview with the Globe almost four weeks ago. Bird did
   not attend either postseason college scouting tournament, but he has
   seen all of the top players and neither of the Celtics' top picks were
   on display last week in Phoenix.
   
   ``Larry is someone who is close to this organization and we have
   always said that there's a role for him,'' Carr said. ``We just have
   to figure out what it is. Larry's a competitive person and he'd like
   to see the team come back. We all are trying to get this team back.''
   
   This story ran on page d1 of the Boston Globe on 04/21/97.
   
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