Larry Bird Rejoins Indiana Pacers as President of Basketball Operations

Having spent a year away, Larry Bird has agreed to take over the Indiana Pacers’ front-office once again. Bird will return to the gig on Monday. Per the Indy Star: “He’s got plenty of rings of his own, now I want him to win one for me,’ Pacers owner Herb Simon said. ‘He’s got his energy back, his health back and he’s raring to go.’ The Pacers will formally announce Bird’s return in a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday. General manager Kevin Pritchard will remain on as Bird’s No. 2 while Donnie Walsh, who said last week he’d be ready to step aside if Bird returned, will become a consultant. Bird will not be involved in Thursday’s draft, which Walsh and Pritchard have been working on for months. ‘First of all, we all realize he’s done a pretty good job with the team,’ Simon said. ‘He left because of physical reasons. It was always contemplated that when he straightened out his medical issues he would come back. The only thing is we didn’t know if it would take a year or more for him to feel strong enough to get back and apparently he had a good year and is ready to come back.'”