Despite $1.8 Billion Team?s Persistent Failure, 16x NBA Champ?s 1 Anecdote Once Led to Larry Bird?s Post-Retirement Success

Larry Bird retired as a player in 1992. Since then, he has been a part of the Indiana Pacers. He has a deep history with the state and the team. He grew up in Indiana and also went to college there. In 2013, Larry Bird was the president of basketball for the Indiana Pacers. After making the Eastern Conference finals the year prior, the team was heading in a good direction.

During Bird’s time with the Pacers, he has made decisions that have helped the team get better in the long run. But it was Bird’s time with the Boston Celtics and the influence of his general manager at the time that he was able to make the moves he did with the Pacers.

The person who taught Larry Bird

In 2014, Larry Bird revealed the reason behind his success with the Indiana Pacers during an interview with Bleacher Report. During Bird’s career with the Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach worked as the general manager and president of basketball for the team. He was also the Celtics’ coach in the 1950s and 1960s. In total, he has won 16 championships.

Having spent years witnessing how Auerbach works behind the scenes, Bird learned a lot from him. He was also a vital piece in Larry Bird’s coming to the Boston Celtics as a player.

Bird revealed that in 2014, during the trade deadline, he was given the option to trade Danny Granger to the Philadelphia 76ers. But that was an extremely tough choice for Bird, who drafted Granger nine years ago and who has been a part of the team ever since. That’s when Bird remembered what Auerbach had taught him.

Bird said, “The franchise is always first….. The franchise is the most important thing, and so in this case, I had to do what?s best for the franchise.”

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He gave Bird the mentality to have a long-term outlook on every decision he made. It’s safe to say that Bird did a good job with the Pacers, which is why he was brought back as the general manager of the team.

Larry Bird’s time with the Indiana Pacers

He was named coach of the year in 1997, and in 2000, he led the team to the NBA finals. In 2003, he was named president of basketball operations for the Pacers and retired from that position in 2012. But one year later, he returned again as the president of basketball for the Pacers in 2013. Bird, during his time with the Pacers, elevated the team to championship contention.

In 2013, the Indiana Pacers were really close. But unfortunately for them, the Miami Heat was a superteam that consisted of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Even then, the Pacers pushed the Heat to the limit. The Heat barely got past Paul George and the Pacers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

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Since then the team has struggled to get back to the top of the conference. But with the recent addition of Tyrese Haliburton and the development of Myles Turner alongside the new additions, the team may get back to its past glory.