Bird Just Wants to Do His Job

Larry Bird began coaching because he got bored playing golf and working as a scout.

Has coaching now become boring for the former Boston Celtics great? He’s not sure yet, focused instead on trying to take the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first time.

But he’s not making any promises about where he’ll be after this season. And who knows, he could end up spending much of his time back on the golf course.

“I’m only worried about what we do this year,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I do. It just matters how my team plays this year, how we stay together, how we compete every night.”

Bird signed a three-year contract to coach the Pacers in 1997 and has said he plans to leave the bench when it expires. But he’s also said he’s not sure what he’ll do after this season.

No matter what he decides, the nucleus of his current team might be gone. Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose are all in the final year of their contracts.

Bird, who returned to his home state determined to win a championship, says he isn’t worried about the end of his contract.

“I don’t care. For the players, it can be an incentive for them. If they come in with an attitude that they’re disappointed they didn’t get a new contract, it is going to cause a problem,” he said. “If they come in with the frame of mind that they’re going to play, and work to improve, show us that they’re worth the money, we’ll be fine, we’ll be a better basketball club.”

After the Pacers were upset by the New York Knicks in the conference finals last year--the team’s fourth fruitless trip there in six years--Bird retreated to his home in Florida, spending little time in Indiana.

He didn’t even return to the state to announce his decision to walk away after this season. The announcement was made in Florida while Bird was promoting his book, “Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love.”