Larry/Isaih page2 column

[Mark Piotrowski <markp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 From a Bird's-eye view
By Jason Whitlock
Page 2 columnist

Larry Bird won't be the first team president to try to win a 
championship fueled by ego and deception. That doesn't make it right or 
comforting. Basketball fans aren't used to seeing Bird as a devious 
conniver.


But it appears now that Bird can connive with the best of them.

Bird, the newly installed president of my Indiana Pacers, has earned 
the right to own a huge ego, especially in his home state. And it was 
with that ego that Bird dumped Indiana coach Isiah Thomas, also a man 
of considerable conceit, Wednesday afternoon.


In the process of buffaloing Jermaine O'Neal into re-signing with the 
Pacers a month ago, Bird sat courtside while the organization assured 
O'Neal that Thomas would be his coach. Now, Bird and the franchise 
assume Bird's status as an NBA legend, along with O'Neal's new $120 
million contract spread over seven years, will square things with the 
star forward, who views Thomas as a father figure.


"I think (O'Neal) will be disappointed," Bird told an ESPN reporter 
Wednesday. "But I also think that he'll sit down and talk to us, and 
we'll have a conversation with him about why it was done.''


Translation: "We gave Jermaine his money. He'll shut his mouth and like 
it because I'm Larry Bird, the larger-than-life Indiana State, Boston 
Celtics, Indiana Pacers legend. And if he doesn't learn to like it, 
we'll give Jermaine's minutes to my main man Austin Croshere."


You think that last line is a joke?


In his three years as coach of the Pacers, Bird had two pet projects: 
assistant coach Rick Carlisle, and Croshere.


Before walking out on the Pacers after their NBA finals run, Bird told 
then-team-president Donnie Walsh two things:


1. Make Carlisle the next coach.


2. Fatten Croshere's contract.


Walsh ignored the Carlisle suggestion and hired Thomas instead. And 
Walsh bought into the hype that Croshere is a poor man's Larry Bird and 
gave him $51 million over seven years. You could argue that he regrets 
both decisions.


There's no arguing that those decisions are the fuel propelling Bird's 
ego and deception as it relates to Isiah. Oh yes, it's personal. Bird 
and Thomas don't like each other. There is little mutual respect. This 
is a Chicago city kid vs. a hick from French Lick. In terms of 
basketball core values and culture, this is Palestine vs. Israel, 
"Hoosiers" vs. "Above the Rim," pick-n-roll vs. get-n-go.


Bird and Thomas could never co-exist. Bird couldn't afford to let 
Thomas stay on because the Pacers could be good this season. Thomas was 
in the last year of his contract. If the Pacers won, Thomas could 
command a fat, long contract extension. Bird would miss out on his 
chance to hire Carlisle.

Doesn't it all make sense now? Carlisle gets canned in Detroit and 
decides to sit out a year and wait patiently for his next NBA 
opportunity. I'm sure Bird told him he wouldn't be waiting long. Bird 
just needed to fix his O'Neal problem before implementing the plan.


So Walsh and Bird used Thomas. They needed Zeke to re-sign O'Neal.


Now that they have O'Neal, Bird can go about the business of proving 
that he was right about Croshere and Carlisle. When Bird took over the 
Pacers seven weeks ago, he immediately referred to Croshere as one of 
the Pacers' outstanding young players. Never mind that Croshere has 
been a flop in the three years since Bird departed. Never mind that the 
Pacers have shopped Croshere around the league and found that no GM 
will touch him or his $51-million contract. Never mind that Croshere is 
too slow to guard small forwards and too weak to bang with the Chris 
Webber crowd.


Bird blames Thomas for Croshere's failure. Bird believes the right 
system, Carlisle's system, will hide Croshere's weaknesses.


Croshere's contract has handcuffed the Pacers, financially. He was the 
10th or 11th man in Thomas' rotation. He isn't good enough to steal 
minutes from Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender or Ron Artest.


Somebody is getting traded to make room for Croshere.


I hope Bird is right about Carlisle and Croshere. My gut feeling, 
though, is that Bird screwed this up. He should've tolerated Thomas for 
a season or had the courage to fire him seven weeks ago. I'm not a 
Thomas defender. His game strategy is questionable, and he failed to 
corral Artest.


The Pacers are a young, petulant bunch. Thomas did a solid job 
developing O'Neal into a star and transitioning the offense away from 
Reggie Miller. He was given a difficult assignment. Bird, as his 
predecessor as head coach, worked with a veteran Pacers' team. Thomas 
showed up just as Dale Davis, Mark Jackson and Rik Smits were leaving.


The old, easy-listening Motown Pacers that Bird led are gone. The 50 
Cent group he's inheriting as team president won't be all that 
impressed by Bird's reputation. His rep won't carry any weight when it 
comes to correcting the chemistry problems that wrecked the second half 
of last season. You don't build winning chemistry by misleading your 
best player, particularly one armed with a $120-million contract.


If Thomas is as conniving and ego-driven as Bird -- which I'm sure he 
is -- then the Pacers will have trouble controlling O'Neal over the 
next few years. I wouldn't want to be the Three Amigos -- Bird, 
Carlisle and Croshere -- when O'Neal turns to Isiah, his father figure, 
for advice during key stretches of the season.


Jason Whitlock is a regular columnist for the Kansas City Star 
(kcstar.com) and a regular contributor on ESPN The Magazine's Sunday 
morning edition of The Sports Reporters. He can be reached at 
ballstate68@xxxxxxxx