Brown Reportedly Is Out

Larry Brown is leaving the Indiana Pacers after the second losing season in his lengthy coaching career, according to several reports.

The Pacers, 39-42, end their season today against Detroit, finishing with their first losing season since 1992 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1989.

Brown has asked Pacer President Donnie Walsh to let him out of the two years remaining on his contract, according to published and broadcast media reports.

Brown was due to meet with Walsh Saturday night to discuss his future with the team. After the game, Brown was expected to travel to Los Angeles, where his wife, Shelly, is awaiting the birth of their second child.

Brown, who took the Pacers to the Eastern Conference finals in 1994 and 1995, has consistently accepted the blame for Indiana’s struggles this season. Indiana spent nearly the entire season below the .500 mark.

Before Friday night’s 97-89 loss to the New York Knicks, Brown declined to comment about his future, but he continued to voice disappointment over his team’s performance.

“You can say all you want about it being a players’ league, but somewhere along the line it’s someone’s responsibility--and it’s mine,” he told The Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News.

Brown said he has not spoken with other teams about coaching possibilities. The Boston Globe reported in Friday’s editions that the Boston Celtics asked permission from the Pacers to talk with Brown about the coaching job M.L. Carr is expected to vacate.

Brown is completing his fourth season as Indiana’s coach. In a coaching career that began in 1972 with the Carolina Cougars, the only other time Brown has had a losing record coaching a team its entire season was in 1988-89, when he finished 21-61 with San Antonio.

“We draw up plays, and everyone seems to forget them when they get out on the court,” Brown said recently. “It’s been very discouraging, and I think I deserve much of the blame. I’m paid to get results, and I haven’t been getting them. It’s not one or two players, it’s the entire team. They’re trying, but they just are not getting the job done.”

Brown has cited a lack of leadership and concentration by Indiana. He has refused to use injuries that sidelined starters Derrick McKey and Rik Smits for much of the season as an excuse.

“We’ve had so many important games where I look out there and I don’t see a sense of urgency,” he said Friday. “Those are the things I’m supposed to do, and I feel like I’ve really failed in getting us to play the right way and getting us to understand our responsibility.”

Brown and Walsh could not be reached for comment Saturday.

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Miami guard Tim Hardaway, who didn’t play in Saturday’s season-ending victory over Orlando, finished the season with better than a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (695-230) and thus earns a $1-million bonus.