Bird Draws Top Honor in His Rookie Season

Larry Bird the coach is picking up where he left off as a superstar player--winning games, awards and praise for his performance.

Bird, who never coached at any level until this season with the Indiana Pacers, won the NBA coach-of-the-year award on Tuesday, only the fourth rookie to do so.

Bird led the Pacers to their best winning percentage (.707) and their best record (58-24) since joining the NBA in 1976. Even more remarkable is that his team, which didn’t even make the playoffs last year, is on the verge of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.

He was an overwhelming choice of the national panel of sports writers and broadcasters who voted. Bird got 50 of the 116 votes, more than the next three coaches combined. Utah’s Jerry Sloan was second with 29, followed by Cleveland’s Mike Fratello with 15 and Miami’s Pat Riley with five.

“I’m not a great coach. I’ve got great people around me and everybody does their job,” said Bird, giving much of the credit to his players and assistant coaches, Dick Harter and Rick Carlisle.

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Rookie of the year Tim Duncan of San Antonio and Keith Van Horn of New Jersey were unanimously voted to the NBA’s all-rookie team, the league announced.

Guard Brevin Knight and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas of the Cleveland Cavaliers and guard-forward Ron Mercer of the Boston Celtics rounded out the first team.

The second team included three forwards--Cleveland’s Cedric Henderson, Philadelphia’s Tim Thomas and the Clippers’ Maurice Taylor--and two guards--the Cavaliers’ Derek Anderson and Denver’s Bobby Jackson.

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Cleveland General Manager Wayne Embry is the NBA executive of the year for the second time in six years.

Embry won the latest honor in a vote conducted by the Sporting News. He received 17 votes from his fellow NBA executives.