Playoffs 2000:When the playing ends, Walsh will go to work

When the playing ends, Walsh will go to work
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Donnie Walsh built the Indiana Pacers into a championship contender. With the team one victory away from its first trip to the NBA Finals, he's waiting for what figures to be a busy summer.

The Pacers can capture their first Eastern Conference championship Friday night by defeating the New York Knicks. If the Knicks win, the seventh and deciding game will here Sunday.

The NBA Finals will begin next Wednesday in either Portland or Los Angeles and could run until June 21 -- one week before the annual draft.

Once the Pacers finish playing, Walsh must find a coach to succeed Larry Bird, decide what to do in the draft and deal with four starters and two reserves who will become free agents.

"Obviously, it all starts with Larry," the team president said.

"I had an understanding with Larry from the first day that he might coach for three years, and he has stuck to that. I thought he would. I'd like to keep him in the franchise, but I don't know if he'll do that or not," Walsh said.

Bird has been elusive when asked about remaining with the Pacers in a front-office capacity, saying he wants to make his decision after the season. He reportedly has enrolled his children in both Florida and Indiana schools for the next school year.

If Bird stays with the Pacers, Walsh wants him involved in selecting his successor -- with former teammate and current assistant Rick Carlisle being Bird's top choice.

"I'm going to wait until this is all over," Walsh said of his selection of a coach. "There's certainly pressure as far as deciding on a coach."

Walsh has not named people he might want as a coach, although he admits Carlisle and current Sacramento assistant and former Pacer player Byron Scott are on his list. He also realizes he might lose a candidate to another team seeking a coach before he is ready to make an offer.

"If someone comes in and makes an offer to someone I'm interested in and I can't respond to it, I might lose that guy," he said. "But, there's an awful lot of interest in our coaching job, so I know that we'll get a good coach."

Walsh said he has enjoyed working with Bird.

"But things are never forever. It's not that way with players, it's not that way with presidents or coaches in this league," he said.

"When I hired him to coach there wasn't one member of the press who thought he would succeed. ... The fact is he came in and he has had three great years, won the division twice, had the Eastern Conference's best record and reached the conference finals three years straight. There's not a coach in this league that wouldn't like to do that. The only thing is he hasn't won the NBA championship as a coach or reached the finals."

Bird was the NBA coach of the year in his first season with Indiana in 1998.

The Pacers are in the conference finals for the third consecutive year and the fifth time in seven years. Walsh has either drafted, signed or traded for every player on the roster without making any major shakeup in the roster.

"I've been hearing for the last three years that we should have broken the team up, before Larry got here. I resisted the idea and you see where we are today," Walsh said. "If you look at our team, what we've tried to do is bring younger players in who will be ready to play when we need them."

Free agency may force a breakup, however.

Starters Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Rik Smits and Jalen Rose all will become free agents, along with reserves Austin Croshere and Sam Perkins.

"I'm going to sit down with them or their agents and discuss their future with us," Walsh said. "I'm going to talk to them about coming back. ... They can go where they want to go. I have no assurance even if I wanted them back that they would come."