INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird wants to
stick around for the team's expected offseason overhaul.
He's just not sure whether he'll be orchestrating it.
The NBA Hall of Famer said Wednesday he won't know his plans
until he meets with team owners Melvin and Herb Simon.
"I want to wait to talk to the owners and see what they want,"
Bird said after the Pacers' shootaround. "I will say that I'd like
to be here because I enjoy this."
The past few seasons, however, haven't been much fun.
Bird acknowledged he didn't want to trade Ron Artest to
Sacramento and Stephen Jackson to Golden State, moves made after
those two players ran into trouble.
Artest was a primary participant in the infamous brawl with
Detroit Piston fans in 2004-05, and Jackson had a troubled tenure
with the team that included pleading guilty to criminal
recklessness for firing gunshots in the air during an Indianapolis
strip-club fight.
Ridding the team of the pair didn't make the Pacers' off-court
problems vanish.
This season, Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley and several companions
were targeted in a shooting that wounded the team's equipment
manager outside a downtown hotel. Police said someone shot an
assault rifle at the group after a confrontation at a nightclub
miles away.
On Monday, Tinsley and Marquis Daniels cut a deal with
prosecutors to avoid trial on charges in a February 2007 fight at
an Indianapolis nightclub.
That agreement was the latest in a series of legal problems and
incidents involving Pacers, including the recent arrest of a murder
suspect after he had been at the home of forward Shawne Williams
and a reported rape at Daniels' home. Neither player was charged.
Still, it has tarnished the Pacers' reputation and hurt
attendance.
"That's the most discouraging thing, the incidents the players
have been in," Bird said. "There's really a disconnect between
the fans and the team. We have had a fan base that was very loyal,
and now that's dwindled some."
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh reportedly has been talking with the New
York Knicks about taking over as president. Walsh did not take
questions Wednesday, and Bird did not elaborate on the reports,
although he said he has seen them.
"While there's been speculation he's been talking to other
teams, I have too much respect for him to talk about that," Bird
said. "I hope he stays."
The Simons have promised changes. But the team could risk a
public relations disaster if it fired Bird, a revered figure in his
home state.
Bird shrugged off such a suggestion, reiterating he wants to
help turn things around.
"That's very important to me," he said. "It's easy when
you're winning 55 or 60 games and going to the conference finals
every year."