Larry Bird's time with his hometown Indiana Pacers could be coming to a close.
According to The Indianapolis Star Mike Wells, the current team president is "100 percent sure" he will not be back next year and plans to quit on Tuesday at a meeting with Pacers owner Herb Simon.
Each year, there is speculation about whether or not Bird will be back with the team, as it has been notoriously reluctant to commit to anything long term with the Pacers. Despite being installed for a year by year, informal "handshake" agreement, this time was the only time it seemed that Bird was certainly the goal of resume his presidential duties for the 2012-13 season.
Judging from their statements after the Pacers were eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual champion Heat, Bird believed there was more work to do, and by all indications, he wanted to be part of it. After the loss of the conference semifinals, Bird Wells said:
According to The Indianapolis Star Mike Wells, the current team president is "100 percent sure" he will not be back next year and plans to quit on Tuesday at a meeting with Pacers owner Herb Simon.
Each year, there is speculation about whether or not Bird will be back with the team, as it has been notoriously reluctant to commit to anything long term with the Pacers. Despite being installed for a year by year, informal "handshake" agreement, this time was the only time it seemed that Bird was certainly the goal of resume his presidential duties for the 2012-13 season.
Judging from their statements after the Pacers were eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual champion Heat, Bird believed there was more work to do, and by all indications, he wanted to be part of it. After the loss of the conference semifinals, Bird Wells said:
"[I want to talk to Simon about] the direction of the team, what kind of job he thinks we’re doing, if there’s anything he sees that we should be doing better. Just a number of questions. I’ve got a lot of them written down to ask him, and hopefully we can get the answers we like and move on."
There is a possibility that the bird will only take a year off before returning to a position of front office in some way, according to Wells. Meanwhile, there is widespread speculation that former team CEO Donnie Walsh will take over as president in the wake of Bird.
Walsh, who spent 24 years with the Pacers, he served as president of the New York Knicks before being ousted in June. According to the New York Daily News' Mitch Lawrence Walsh has been in the recent Pacers draft workouts and charge cable Indiana to re-sign point guard George Hill, who is the team's No. 1 offseason priority.
If Larry Bird, Pacers leave now?Yes No - Give it another year. Submit Vote Vote to see results
Walsh left the Knicks after giving a 40 percent pay cut and after Garden chairman Jim Dolan refused to give full autonomy to the team's operations, according to Lawrence. Publicly, however, the Knicks and Walsh have argued that simply do not agree to a multiyear contract.
Although the transition Walsh Bird bodes to be perfect, it would be a shame for the bird to leave the team now. The Pacers are so close to achieving something important for the first time since 2003-04, the last time I made a trip to the finals of the Eastern Conference.
Since then, the Pacers have completely missed the playoffs four times and could not make it past the second round. But this season, after finishing second to Chicago in the Central Division, the Pacers looked so promising against the Heat. They may be young, but proved to be a very athletic team that is just a couple of key pieces before they can actually compete in the Eastern Conference.
With the team is about to succeed, the bird can not get away. A year might be all it takes to win.
Walsh, who spent 24 years with the Pacers, he served as president of the New York Knicks before being ousted in June. According to the New York Daily News' Mitch Lawrence Walsh has been in the recent Pacers draft workouts and charge cable Indiana to re-sign point guard George Hill, who is the team's No. 1 offseason priority.
If Larry Bird, Pacers leave now?Yes No - Give it another year. Submit Vote Vote to see results
Walsh left the Knicks after giving a 40 percent pay cut and after Garden chairman Jim Dolan refused to give full autonomy to the team's operations, according to Lawrence. Publicly, however, the Knicks and Walsh have argued that simply do not agree to a multiyear contract.
Although the transition Walsh Bird bodes to be perfect, it would be a shame for the bird to leave the team now. The Pacers are so close to achieving something important for the first time since 2003-04, the last time I made a trip to the finals of the Eastern Conference.
Since then, the Pacers have completely missed the playoffs four times and could not make it past the second round. But this season, after finishing second to Chicago in the Central Division, the Pacers looked so promising against the Heat. They may be young, but proved to be a very athletic team that is just a couple of key pieces before they can actually compete in the Eastern Conference.
With the team is about to succeed, the bird can not get away. A year might be all it takes to win.
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