Larry Leaving

[jowglenn]

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120626/SPORTS04/120625056/Larry-Bird-leaving-Pacers?odyssey=mod|defcon|text|IndyStar.com

According to Mike Wells, this is it for Larry.

With the rumors of Walsh returning, it looks like it'll be a Walsh/Pritchard combo running the show from now on.

Farewell, Larry, you did great things and brought this team back to prominence. You'll be missed.

[Crowman]

Extremely sad that Bird is moving on.

Ill give it the ol wait and see with Walsh and Pritchard at the helm now

[Wizop]

if it's true, it's not good. it strongly suggests that he thinks we need to spend more money than Herb is willing to spend.

[DWCP2]

No no not Pritchard. Remember the articles online when the Larry Bird departures first started. If Bird did leave Pritchard was gone with him.

Talks that Chris Mullin or Reggie Miller might be by Donnie Walsh's side.

[Crowman]

Horrible way to start the offseason aswell fwiw not a very good image to lose your President and your GM after a successful season

[OnFire]

i don't know what to say.

someone say it's all just
a rumor.

if it's true, then it's frustrating
because it's like we can't
get enough momentum to
sustain a good thing.

walsh is as great as they
come and all… but how
can you argue with what
Larry Legend's achieved
the last few seasons?

this looks worse for Simon
than it does for the team,
methinks.

p.s. can someone be kind
enough to post the indystar
article? their server keeps
dropping the connection.

thanks.

[Indy2thaWindy]

No no not Pritchard. Remember the articles online when the Larry Bird departures first started. If Bird did leave Pritchard was gone with him.

Talks that Chris Mullin or Reggie Miller might be by Donnie Walsh's side.

Where did you hear this?

If true, then this is terrible. Walsh with Mullin?

[Wizop]

The article is on the front page of the Star above the fold and I mean front page not the front page of the Sports section. no mention of Mullin or Miller or any outsiders in the article. it does say that Morway has left the building. I'm a little surprised that the Morway/Pritchard/whatever decision would be made by Bird and not left for his successor but it probably means Bird and Walsh are talking regularly. this could all be as simple as Bird saying I want to slow down, not work so hard, and spend more time in Florida, and Donnie saying I don't know how to slow down and my wife never left Indy.

[Indy2thaWindy]

I hope Pritchard stays.

[Scoot McGroot]

I would imagine, seeing as how Bird kept saying this his meeting with Herb kept getting pushed back, that Herb was pulling strings to bring in Donnie. I fear that Larry lost a power struggle (much as Morway did), and that essentially, Herb replaced Larry with Donnie before Larry even had a chance to say how he felt. Pritchard will probably be gone as well, as he has not yet been named GM, and is Larry's guy.

I would imagine that Mullin will be brought in as Donnie's right hand man in the front office. Can't imagine anyone wants to take the position as Donnie's eventual successor though. One eventual successor has now been discarded as soon as Donnie decided he has no interest in retiring.

[PR07]

This is bad news. Larry's done a terrific job, and I was hoping he would see things out to get us to the next level.

It appears to be both a health and ownership spending issue for Larry Legend. Part of me hopes it is purely health related, and Walsh is just here as the short-term fix until Bird's balky back is ready to go next year. However, more than likely Bird is done permanently in Indiana. I just hope we retain Pritchard, as Bird seemed to like and trust him a lot and may have similar ideas and vision for the team.

[Indy2thaWindy]

MULLIN!? Mullin gave Dunleavy and Murphy their contracts. Walsh then traded for them.

A Walsh/Mullin combination will have a roster of 15 Murphys and Dunleavys.

[8305]

Doesn't the new CBA bring significantly greater incentives to stay below the luxury tax? Not just financial but also competitive incentives. That being the case is the willingness to spend the competitive advantage it used to be? That makes me wonder if the team's budget is that big a driver to Larry's decision.

Pritchard's opportunity here improves with Larry leaving I think. I could see him driving personnel decisions moving forward. His being a part of the operation over the last months makes alot more sense now. The return of Walsh might be ownership's way of making sure Brandon Roy like salary decisions don't reappear under the watch of Pritchard.

[Scoot McGroot]

MULLIN!? Mullin gave Dunleavy and Murphy their contracts. Walsh then traded for them.

A Walsh/Mullin combination will have a roster of 15 Murphys and Dunleavys.

Yeah, Mullin also then traded away those contracts as soon as he realized they were mistakes.

Say what you will about Mullin, but he learned from his mistakes and made better decisions as his tenure went on.

[granger05]

The http://www.eightpointsnineseconds.com/ blog has some more updates from Wells and Kravitz on Bird's decision:

Wells:

Bird deciding to walk away ends the year-to-year speculation about his future. No more year-to-year handshakes with owner Herb Simon.

Bird will meet with Simon as early as Tuesday to finalize his departure.

Bird’s decision to walk away comes about a month after he talked like a person ready to continue as president of the team.

The word “retired” is not being used with Bird. He may take a year off so that he can tend to some back and shoulder problems, then decide if he wants return to a front office, according to a source.

Kravitz:

So why’s he walking?

Over the past year, we had a few conversations about what he might do. One day, he would sound like he was staying. Another day, he would sound like a goner. But the one thing he would always bring up was the pain he was feeling in his eternally balky back, the fact it was so difficult to sit for hours on end and watch tape or sit in a gym and watch prospects.

Unless there’s a backstory with which we’re completely unfamiliar, this sounds like a health, or quality-of-life issue, at its core.

So, hopefully, this decision was just based on health rather than on some conflict with the direction of the franchise. Hopefully Bird gets well. They brought Donnie back so maybe he'll get another shot later and hopefully this means Pritchard will stick around since I like how aggressive he is.

[Pacersike]

MULLIN!? Mullin gave Dunleavy and Murphy their contracts. Walsh then traded for them.

A Walsh/Mullin combination will have a roster of 15 Murphys and Dunleavys.

Yeah, Mullin also then traded away those contracts as soon as he realized they were mistakes.

Say what you will about Mullin, but he learned from his mistakes and made better decisions as his tenure went on.

He was lucky enough one GM was crazy enough to trade for them. The Pacers couldn't trade them further until they were expiring...

[granger05]

The ESPN rumors page includes a blurb that Pritchard is expected to be the GM:

A source tells The Indianapolis Star that Larry Bird will not return as the president of the Indiana Pacers.

According to the newspaper, Bird will meet with owner Herb Simon on Tuesday to complete his departure.

There is a chance Donnie Walsh could return to the Pacers and take Bird's position as president of the team.

Kevin Pritchard is expected to become the new general manager of the team.

-- Nick Borges

[Pacersike]

MULLIN!? Mullin gave Dunleavy and Murphy their contracts. Walsh then traded for them.

A Walsh/Mullin combination will have a roster of 15 Murphys and Dunleavys.

People learn from their mistakes. We should give them a chance.

Look at the positive side. Certain players might no longer be untouchables...

[Scoot McGroot]

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_spo ... xZL2v9kdjO

There's the Peter Vescey take.

[Indy2thaWindy]

Hopefully you mean Granger.

Who all here prefers Mullin over Pritchard? I would rather have Pritchard myself.