Bird's interview on ESPN

[Jeff Robertson <jerober2@vt.edu>]

Bird hopes a change will do him good

                 By Mitch Lawrence 
                 Special to ESPN SportsZone 

  Mitch Lawrence
  archive

                 INDIANAPOLIS -- You don't need to consult a calendar to
find out that it has
                 been five years since Larry Bird hung it up. Just look at
the poker pot in your
                 local NBA locker room.

                 "When I was playing, we used to play cards for $2 a hand,"
Bird was saying the
                 other day, relaxing in Market Square Arena after a
practice. "Now, they play for
                 $2,000 a hand. My God. Wow. What a change."

                 However, that's minor compared to the biggest change in the
NBA this season,
                 happening right here in Pacers country.

                 Larry Bird has traded in his golf shirts and sweaters for
suits and ties. Larry
                 Legend has traded in the life of leisure for a career in
coaching. Now that's a
                 change.

                 "Larry coaching is something I
                 thought I'd never see," said Kevin
                 McHale, Bird's former teammate
                 and now Timberwolves VP.
                 "Never in a million years."

                 But there was Bird after a recent
                 workout, with scouting reports
                 about his Oct. 18 preseason
                 opponent, the Utah Jazz, in a pile
                 on his desk. He doesn't have a
                 placard with his title, but you knew
                 his profession just by what was
                 sitting next to his watch.

                 A whistle.

                 Bird was dressed in Pacers colors, a gold golf shirt
hanging over his blue sweats.
                 Celtic green is a thing of the past. He's 100-percent
Pacers now.

                 "I don't even give it a thought," he said of his storied
Boston days.

                 His thoughts now are given to Xs and Os and learning how to
coach the game
                 he mastered as a player. It was strange, indeed, to watch
Bird enter the arena
                 floor before the Jazz game dressed in a dark gray suit, red
tie and black dress
                 shoes.

                 "I never thought he'd want to coach," McHale said. "He just
didn't want to put
                 up with any of the stuff that goes with the job, like
talking to the media. But he
                 loves basketball and he loves being around it."

                 If he didn't, he never would have agreed to sign on as the
eighth coach in Pacers
                 history.

                 "It's been fun and interesting," Bird said. "I'm excited to
get back into it -- the
                 competition."

                 Then he paused: "If it weren't for the games, it would be a
great job."

                 Good line, but even Bird knows that it's a fib.
                 He isn't the mad scientist, the coach who lives
                 to teach, like his predecessor, Larry Brown.
                 The game is what Bird missed while he was
                 working for the Celtics as a consultant.

                 Mostly, he was consulting tee times and that
                 weren't nearly enough to satisfy his legendary
                 competitive fire.

                 "That's why I'm back," Bird said. "I love the
                 competition of the game. This is the closest
                 thing I've seen to being in it. I know I can't play
                 anymore, so I don't even think about it."

                 But he still wants to beat everybody's pants off,
                 the way he did as a Celtic. But now, the
                 competitive fire is limited to getting the better of
                 Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Chuck Daly and his other new
counterparts.

                 Of course, Bird still gets a kick out of putting a buck
down in a shooting contest
                 against one of his players and walking off the with the
pot. Just not against
                 Reggie Miller -- yet.

                 "For Reggie, I'm going to have to practice a lot before I
go up that ladder," he
                 said.

                 Just as the Pacers have a few rungs to climb before they
can compete for a title.

                 "You can't win the championship if you don't make the
playoffs," Bird said. "And
                 this team didn't make the playoffs last year (going 39-43).
Let's do that and then
                 we'll see what happens. But right now we're not a good
enough defensive team.
                 We've got some holes. And I know in this league you've got
to have the talent."

                 How he'll cope without such a talent is one of the many
intriguing questions
                 surrounding "Coach Bird."

                 "He doesn't have Larry Bird playing for him, and that's
gonna be a biggie,"
                 Washington coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "When you've been
a great, great
                 player like Larry Bird, your patience will be tested. Not
many people can do
                 what Larry Bird did."

                 Not many people put in the countless hours of shooting or
running. Now, he has
                 brought that same perfectionist philosophy to the Pacers.

                 "When we practice something, we do it until we get it
right," said Chris Mullin,
                 who is in his first season in Indiana after a dozen with
Golden State "We don't
                 move on to the next drill. With Larry, we do it until it's
done the way it has to be.
                 That's just what he did as a player. That was the secret to
his success. And he
                 still puts a lot of emphasis on repetition and conditioning."

                 And, of course, all the little things that go into winning
titles. Getting to loose
                 balls. Making your free throws. Being patient enough to let
someone set a pick
                 before making your move. Bird knew how to do all the little
things, which is why
                 Miller refers to him as "the legend that he is."

                 But as a coach with no previous experience on any level,
can he get his players
                 to buy into the importance of doing the little things?

                 "We'll see," Bird said. "It's gonna be interesting and fun."

                 And weird, too. Just check out Larry Bird in one of those
fancy suits.