In 49 other states, it's just sports.
In Pacers Land, things have, once again, gotten desperate for an Indiana team that is 10 games under .500.
Back in late January, the Pacers ditched the tactless and seemingly soul-crushing micro-manager that was coach Jim O'Brien. This was a move that, allegedly, Larry Bird didn't want to do. Team owner Herb Simon demanded the change, and that change came in the form of interim coach Frank Vogel. Vogel was a breath of fresh air for a Pacers team needing a change. The club responded to Vogel's message, going 10-4 under his direction for the first fourteen games.
Then, the NBA trading deadline happened, and once again Larry Bird was unable to complete a trade during the deadline's zero hour. Bird's ineffectiveness was labeled 'amateur' by one sportswriter. Like last year, Bird tried to deal Brandon Rush. Like last year, he failed.
Since the deadline debacle, the Pacers have gone 1-6. Brandon Rush and John McRoberts, players Bird attempted to move at the February deadline, have already lost their starting jobs. The team is marked by bickering, infighting, and a lack of commitment to winning, which was fully and embarrassingly on display two nights ago when Indiana essentially quit against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Now, with the team marred in a six-game losing streak, Bird is doing what all sports executives do when their decisions and actions explode in their face: Blame the players.
From Indianapolis Star beat writer Mike Wells, via Indy Cornrows:
Player professionalism is being questioned. Some players have begun arriving for practice just before the scheduled start time. Others constantly joke around during workouts.
The lack of commitment in practice is showing up in games. The Pacers have lost by at least 10 points in five of their past seven defeats.
"You have to have the players behind you and they have to be willing to work hard," Bird said. "I know what's going on; the players know what's going on. We're just not getting the effort."
'Player professionalism' once again being questioned? Wasn't that 'losing culture' supposedly changed by the now-fired Jim O'Brien, Bird's hand-picked coach after Bird fired his other hand-picked coach, Rick Carlisle? The same Rick Carlisle who has the Dallas Mavericks fighting for the No. 2 seed in the West.
It's also worth noting that practically every player on this roster, and likely all the players who Bird is referring to when questioning their 'professionalism,' are people brought into this organization by Bird.This isn't counting malcontents like T.J. Ford, who is getting paid $8 million dollars to sit and do nothing for this franchise.
With Bird's contract expiring at the end of this season, and with no news surfacing that Herb Simon plans to offer Larry a new deal, the safe bet is that Larry Bird's 'talents' as a personnel manager will not be retained in central Indiana next season, and beyond. When he leaves, Bird will likely use the same old tired excuses he always tosses out there when people question his effectiveness as a manager: Larger markets teams spending more, the lack of superstars, the salary cap situation they had to work out of, etc.
But, in reality, all Bird has to do is look in a mirror to see the reason why Indiana is 95-133 since he took over as Pacers president. It was Bird who traded for Brandon Rush. It was Bird who drafted noted malcontent and all-around sketchy character Lance Stephenson. It was Bird who saddled Indy with the contracts for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy.
At the end of the day, the reason the Pacers are a shadow of their former selves has less to do with outside forces and more to do with bad decision-making by the team's current president.
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