Larry Bird is Executive of the Year
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Founder
Give Larry Bird credit.
When many criticized his run as team president and said he had it all wrong as he rebuilt the struggling Pacers, he remained focused. Every time I asked him, ‘Larry, do the things the fans say bother you?’ he’d always say he’s got a job to do, and he’s going to stay the course.
Now, he’s the NBA Executive of the Year.
So much for the theory that great players can’t build a team.
Bird made it clear the path was difficult. During his stay as an executive, the Pacers have gotten rid of Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley and others who had gotten in trouble on or off the court over the years, got lesser players in return in some cases, took the hit and stuck with his plan.
“We had to change the culture,” he said. “I thought (former coach) Jimmy O’Brien really helped us in that aspect. He came in here and knew exactly what we had to do. We had to not only change the culture, but we had to take it slow and get some players we thought we could build around. It was a long journey, it was a painful journey, but now we think it’s going to pay dividends.”
Over the years, Bird has been involved with picking up Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and Paul George on draft nights, George Hill, Leandro Barbosa and Darren Collison in trades and David West as a free agent.
“It’s obvious why he got Executive of the Year,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “You look at how this particular team has been built, it’s really remarkable. To be able to build this team with mid-lottery picks and trades is just – it’s near impossible to do.”
The last three major pickups, West, Hill and Barbosa, have been key figures for the Pacers in the playoffs.
“It made us a full team,” Bird said. “The leadership and the way they’re going about about their business _ the more playoff experience we get is going to help everyone. They’ve done a great job of leading us where we want to go.”
Bird said he would spend big money if he had it, but the small-town Indiana boy was pretty comfortable fighting against the odds.
“If I was somewhere else and we had the revenues, I’d do it,” he said. “It’s always nice to have that go-to guy every night. But we’re not in a big market. We’ve got to do things differently. We’ve got to have a team. We’ve got to have guys who gut it out every night. It’s not always pretty, but we are who we are.”
Bird warned Danny Granger, the only active player from the Ron Artest era, right away back in 2005.
“When we signed Danny, I told him it was going to be rough,” Bird said. “It’s not going to be pretty for a couple years. He hung in there and all of a sudden we started adding some pieces and getting a little bit better. Then, last summer, we picked up a couple players.”
Now, Granger and Hibbert have been All-Stars and the Pacers are in the second round of the playoffs, giving the Miami Heat all they want.
West is impressed with the way Bird has rebuilt the team.
“He’s put together a pretty solid basketball team here,” West said. “More than anything, he’s identified guys that have got pretty good character and are always trying to do the right thing. One of the best locker rooms I’ve been a part of in terms of guys individually, their individually getting up, their collectively trying to do the right thing. It’s a good step when you’re dealing with NBA players.”
Bird said the future looks bright for Indiana.
“I’m very happy about where this franchise is heading,” he said. “I ike my team. And we’re young, so we’ve got room to grow.”
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cliffbruntAP.
