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When old friends Larry Bird and Rick Carlisle got together Tuesday to discuss the future of the Pacers' head coaching position, there was no debate.
"It was mutually agreed," Bird said Wednesday. "We sat down and he said, 'Look, maybe it's time for me to go.' And we went from there."
Where Carlisle goes remains to be seen he has until June 15 to decide if he will remain with the team in a front-office capacity but the Pacers will move in a different direction on the bench. After four seasons, a 181-147 record and a series of unfortunate events that led to a decline in the team's victory total each year, Carlisle was relieved of his coaching duties.
"It's time for a new era," Bird said. "We shouldn't point fingers at anyone. We're all at fault. It's all of our fault. If you want to blame somebody, you've got to blame the people at the top. I understand that. It's part of the business. There's a lot of things that have gone on here the last three years that's embarrassing. It hurts, being from Indiana. I had a major problem with a lot of it and we can't have that. So we're going to get the right players with skill and the right players to be out in our community and we're going to build from that."
That also includes finding the right coach. Though Bird didn't name any of the candidates on his list, Carlisle brought up Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni, Boston assistant Tony Brown, Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell (whose contract expires with the completion of the Raptors' playoff run), as well as two former Pacers with no coaching experience Mark Jackson and Reggie Miller.
"I think it's an exciting situation for the next guy, I really do, and I think there are some great names," Carlisle said. "Marc Iavaroni is a name, Sam Mitchell is a guy that's going to be a free agent and he's a former Pacer, Mark Jackson I think is a great name for a guy that has a lot of knowledge of the game even though he hasn't coached. And Reggie Miller, who knows? Maybe he would even want to coach, you know?
"Hey, strange things happen. Another name I heard, Tony Brown in Boston, the top assistant there, a guy who worked for me in Detroit, a really good young coaching prospect and another guy that's a former Pacer and I think there's real merit to bringing people in that kind of know what this is about."
Former teammates in Boston, Bird and Carlisle re-united in 1997 when Bird was hired as head coach. He made Carlisle his offensive coordinator (with Dick Harter the defensive coordinator) and that staff engineered a run of three consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and the franchise's first NBA trip to the NBA Finals in 2000.
Their long friendship made this decision particularly difficult for Bird on a personal level.
"With some of the problems we've had over the past few years, it's been tough on everyone," Bird said. "Rick's been a personal friend of mine for a long time and it's sad to see him step away but I think in his case he might want to step away, re-assess and take a look at everything that has gone on the last four years and make the decision whether he wants to coach again next year or in the future. We did leave the door open for him to join me in the front office but it's time to close the chapter on this season this year and move forward.
"Having Rick here has been nothing but a pleasure for me and he's been awful good for this franchise. I hate to see him go but we sit down and talked about it and it was mutually agreeable that it's time to part ways."
The Pacers won a franchise-record 61 games and reached the conference finals in Carlisle's first season, 2003-04 and appeared poised to contend for a championship in 2004-05 but the Detroit brawl was the first of a sequence of incidents that contributed the team's slip to 44 wins that season, followed by 41 in 2005-06 and a 35-47 mark in 2006-07. The latter was the team's worst since 1988-89 and ended what had been the longest streak of playoff appearances in the Eastern Conference at nine.
"I think it's time for another voice here," Carlisle said. "This is a great situation for the next coach in a lot of ways. It's a young team. There were guys that had a chance to grow through some tough circumstances this year and those things will manifest in better play for the team overall next year."
Other than steadfastly ruling himself out as an option, Bird said he would consider a variety of candidates, including young assistants on the rise. He did say he doubted the Pacers would pursue a current college coach.
"There's a lot of young talent out there that's been assistant coaches for a long time that deserves a shot and I think they're very good," Bird said. "There's always a lot of talk about different individuals that's ready to take the next step, eager to do that, and that's something we'll look at."
Bird re-affirmed that he'd prefer a coach that will employ a balanced offensive approach, able to play both up-tempo and halfcourt styles, but that the team's identity likely would be dependent on what personnel moves he makes this summer. He stressed that discipline would be a priority.
"I talked to each player and told them, without even knowing what we were doing with Rick, that I don't like a lot of the things I'm hearing, a lot of things I'm seeing, and you're going to be held accountable for everything whether it's suspensions or heavy fines," Bird said. "And it's amazing, each one of them agreed with me. They might've just wanted to get out of there because summertime's here but they agreed with me. They're going to be held accountable."
Bird said he was operating under no particular deadline to hire the next coach because he wanted to take the time to interview and research his candidates. Carlisle, who addressed the media in a separate press conference, said he also expected it to take awhile.
"I don't think it's going to be an overnight process," Carlisle said. "The reason I say that is I asked these guys if I could leave my stuff in my office another six days and they said 'no problem'."
Carlisle still holds the title Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations but with a strong resume that includes a 281-211 record, five playoff berths and two trips to the conference finals in six seasons (including two in Detroit), will no doubt be a popular candidate for whatever coaching vacancies arise in the coming weeks. He already has been linked with the opening in Seattle, but declined to speculate about his immediate future.
"From here forward I'm going to take some time with the family, see if there are other opportunities and whether those opportunities might suit my situation and vice versa," Carlisle said. "Having the opportunity to keep an affiliation with the team is something that's special and meaningful to me. But I want to make sure it's an appropriate thing before assuming it's going to be something that I'll do and that they'll want me to do. I'm not going impose myself on this franchise if it's not the right thing. I've been here too long and had too many good experiences to put that in somebody's lap."
Carlisle was remarkably relaxed and upbeat in his press conference, frequently smiling and making light of the situation as well as poking fun at his staunch dedication to wearing white shirts on game nights. One reported asked if he actually felt he'd been relieved of a burden.
"Listen, you guys just haven't taken the time to get to know me," Carlisle said with a smile. "Hey, listen, this year I broke out blue shirts, we painted the locker room a different color, we tried everything."
Now, the Pacers will try something, or someone, else.
"It was mutually agreed," Bird said Wednesday. "We sat down and he said, 'Look, maybe it's time for me to go.' And we went from there."
Where Carlisle goes remains to be seen he has until June 15 to decide if he will remain with the team in a front-office capacity but the Pacers will move in a different direction on the bench. After four seasons, a 181-147 record and a series of unfortunate events that led to a decline in the team's victory total each year, Carlisle was relieved of his coaching duties.
"It's time for a new era," Bird said. "We shouldn't point fingers at anyone. We're all at fault. It's all of our fault. If you want to blame somebody, you've got to blame the people at the top. I understand that. It's part of the business. There's a lot of things that have gone on here the last three years that's embarrassing. It hurts, being from Indiana. I had a major problem with a lot of it and we can't have that. So we're going to get the right players with skill and the right players to be out in our community and we're going to build from that."
That also includes finding the right coach. Though Bird didn't name any of the candidates on his list, Carlisle brought up Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni, Boston assistant Tony Brown, Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell (whose contract expires with the completion of the Raptors' playoff run), as well as two former Pacers with no coaching experience Mark Jackson and Reggie Miller.
"I think it's an exciting situation for the next guy, I really do, and I think there are some great names," Carlisle said. "Marc Iavaroni is a name, Sam Mitchell is a guy that's going to be a free agent and he's a former Pacer, Mark Jackson I think is a great name for a guy that has a lot of knowledge of the game even though he hasn't coached. And Reggie Miller, who knows? Maybe he would even want to coach, you know?
"Hey, strange things happen. Another name I heard, Tony Brown in Boston, the top assistant there, a guy who worked for me in Detroit, a really good young coaching prospect and another guy that's a former Pacer and I think there's real merit to bringing people in that kind of know what this is about."
Former teammates in Boston, Bird and Carlisle re-united in 1997 when Bird was hired as head coach. He made Carlisle his offensive coordinator (with Dick Harter the defensive coordinator) and that staff engineered a run of three consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and the franchise's first NBA trip to the NBA Finals in 2000.
Their long friendship made this decision particularly difficult for Bird on a personal level.
"With some of the problems we've had over the past few years, it's been tough on everyone," Bird said. "Rick's been a personal friend of mine for a long time and it's sad to see him step away but I think in his case he might want to step away, re-assess and take a look at everything that has gone on the last four years and make the decision whether he wants to coach again next year or in the future. We did leave the door open for him to join me in the front office but it's time to close the chapter on this season this year and move forward.
"Having Rick here has been nothing but a pleasure for me and he's been awful good for this franchise. I hate to see him go but we sit down and talked about it and it was mutually agreeable that it's time to part ways."
The Pacers won a franchise-record 61 games and reached the conference finals in Carlisle's first season, 2003-04 and appeared poised to contend for a championship in 2004-05 but the Detroit brawl was the first of a sequence of incidents that contributed the team's slip to 44 wins that season, followed by 41 in 2005-06 and a 35-47 mark in 2006-07. The latter was the team's worst since 1988-89 and ended what had been the longest streak of playoff appearances in the Eastern Conference at nine.
"I think it's time for another voice here," Carlisle said. "This is a great situation for the next coach in a lot of ways. It's a young team. There were guys that had a chance to grow through some tough circumstances this year and those things will manifest in better play for the team overall next year."
Other than steadfastly ruling himself out as an option, Bird said he would consider a variety of candidates, including young assistants on the rise. He did say he doubted the Pacers would pursue a current college coach.
"There's a lot of young talent out there that's been assistant coaches for a long time that deserves a shot and I think they're very good," Bird said. "There's always a lot of talk about different individuals that's ready to take the next step, eager to do that, and that's something we'll look at."
Bird re-affirmed that he'd prefer a coach that will employ a balanced offensive approach, able to play both up-tempo and halfcourt styles, but that the team's identity likely would be dependent on what personnel moves he makes this summer. He stressed that discipline would be a priority.
"I talked to each player and told them, without even knowing what we were doing with Rick, that I don't like a lot of the things I'm hearing, a lot of things I'm seeing, and you're going to be held accountable for everything whether it's suspensions or heavy fines," Bird said. "And it's amazing, each one of them agreed with me. They might've just wanted to get out of there because summertime's here but they agreed with me. They're going to be held accountable."
Bird said he was operating under no particular deadline to hire the next coach because he wanted to take the time to interview and research his candidates. Carlisle, who addressed the media in a separate press conference, said he also expected it to take awhile.
"I don't think it's going to be an overnight process," Carlisle said. "The reason I say that is I asked these guys if I could leave my stuff in my office another six days and they said 'no problem'."
Carlisle still holds the title Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations but with a strong resume that includes a 281-211 record, five playoff berths and two trips to the conference finals in six seasons (including two in Detroit), will no doubt be a popular candidate for whatever coaching vacancies arise in the coming weeks. He already has been linked with the opening in Seattle, but declined to speculate about his immediate future.
"From here forward I'm going to take some time with the family, see if there are other opportunities and whether those opportunities might suit my situation and vice versa," Carlisle said. "Having the opportunity to keep an affiliation with the team is something that's special and meaningful to me. But I want to make sure it's an appropriate thing before assuming it's going to be something that I'll do and that they'll want me to do. I'm not going impose myself on this franchise if it's not the right thing. I've been here too long and had too many good experiences to put that in somebody's lap."
Carlisle was remarkably relaxed and upbeat in his press conference, frequently smiling and making light of the situation as well as poking fun at his staunch dedication to wearing white shirts on game nights. One reported asked if he actually felt he'd been relieved of a burden.
"Listen, you guys just haven't taken the time to get to know me," Carlisle said with a smile. "Hey, listen, this year I broke out blue shirts, we painted the locker room a different color, we tried everything."
Now, the Pacers will try something, or someone, else.
