Bird's return flight comes with championship goal

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bird's return flight comes with championship goal
By Associated Press
Saturday, October 25, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS - Larry Bird peers over a large desk in his office as he tries to
adjust to his new environment.

      He's always been more comfortable playing, teaching and scouting the
game he loves than sitting in a nondescript office making phone calls or
handling contracts and budgets.

      But this is where Bird has landed.

      Three months after returning to the Indiana Pacers, Bird is settling in
as president of basketball operations.

      ``I don't know if you ever get used to it,'' he said. ``You're trying to
assemble a team, get guys to mesh together, it's interesting.''

      Donnie Walsh, the Pacers former president and new CEO, thinks Bird is
tailor-made for this job - even if it requires a new set of clothes and a
crash course in the intricacies of his new trade including salary caps, luxury
taxes and negotiations.

      Like he did in his playing days, Bird has already made an immediate
impact.

      Since his hiring in July, All-Pro forward Jermaine O'Neal signed the
richest contract in team history; Reggie Miller, the Pacers' career scoring
leader, re-signed; All-Star center Brad Miller was traded to Sacramento for
Scot Pollard; and, oh yes, Isiah Thomas, a rival from his playing days, was
fired as coach.

      Thomas' replacement, Rick Carlisle, is one of Bird's former teammates,
assistant coaches and closest friends.

      Almost from the moment Bird was named president, Thomas' firing and
Carlisle's hiring seemed practically inevitable given the chilly relationship
Bird and Thomas had as players.

      Bird contends that was not true and insists he took the job with an open
mind. The decision, he said, was made because of a lack of communication, to
avoid a potential midseason distraction and because he thought a change may
help the Pacers win a title.

      ``I didn't know what was going to happen this year,'' Bird said. ``We
were 11-19 in our last 30 games, and if we started bad, I didn't want to make
a change two months into the season.

      ``I think this is better for our team. I hope Isiah gets another job and
proves me wrong, but we've got the guy we want.''

      Bird figures to play a different role than other team presidents.
Carlisle has invited him to take part in instructing his young players on the
finer points of the game, and Bird doesn't mind as long as he doesn't overdo
it.

      Lending a tip is fine, but coaching is not an option.

      Pollard is amazed just being around Bird, who led Indiana State to the
1979 NCAA Championship game, won three NBA titles in Boston and coached the
Pacers to their only Eastern Conference championship in 1999-2000, his final
season.

      ``He's a legend, so it takes some getting used to seeing him around
every day,'' Pollard said. ``He's like everybody else, he's a man. I, myself,
haven't asked for anything because I've got to get over that legend part of
it.''

      Working in the front office is something Bird always wanted to try. He
had the opportunity three years ago with the Pacers when Walsh expected Bird
to succeed him. But an irregular heartbeat that plagued Bird during his three
years as coach kept him from taking the job.

      Bird said he would sometimes wake up dizzy, sweating, breathless and
struggling to walk. Four times, Bird's doctors had to shock his heart back
into a normal beat.

      ``I needed to get away,'' said Bird, who left Indiana after the 1999-00
season. ``We finally got the medication regulated and it hasn't been an issue
at all since.''

      Bird wanted to come back as part owner of the new Charlotte expansion
franchise, but the league chose a different ownership group and dealt Bird one
of the most disappointing losses of his professional life.

      ``I was feeling really good about it, but once that didn't happen, I was
a little upset,'' he said. ``Once I got through that, I felt I should get
back.''

      Bird then started talking to a few teams about front-office jobs before
Walsh offered him the chance to return to his home state.

      ``Even when I played in Boston, I couldn't wait til the finals were over
so I could get back home,'' he said. ``I got homesick every year. I loved
Boston, but when you go back to French Lick, you don't have no one to bother
you unless they want something.''

      All Bird wants now is a chance to win another championship, and even
though he may look odd sitting behind a desk.

      Bird remains soft-spoken, humble and frank - qualities that could serve
him well as president of a team that underachieved the second half of last
season and hasn't escaped the first round of the playoffs since Bird last
coached.

      ``Larry's not about beating around the bush,'' Carlisle said. ``He's
about addressing whatever needs to be addressed and getting better.''

      All Bird has to do now is grow into the job - and settle into an office
that features a few chairs, a tidy desk, a book cabinet that is almost barren,
plain walls and two metal doors without a window.

      It's clear Bird does not intend to spend much time there.

      ``I've been out for three years,'' he said. ``When you get back
involved, it takes some time to get used to it. I've got a lot to learn.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx