Larry Bird Returns to Pacers as Executive

Larry Bird returned to the NBA and the Indiana Pacers on Friday, taking a front-office job with the team he coached to the league finals three years ago.

The Hall of Fame forward will be president of basketball operations, taking over day-to-day decision-making from Donnie Walsh, who will stay on as its chief executive.

As a player, Bird won three NBA titles in the 1980s with the Boston Celtics.

He has been out of basketball since 2000, when he walked away from the Pacers at the end of a three-year coaching contract. His last team lost to the Lakers in that season’s NBA Finals.

The Pacers offered Bird a top front-office job, with the option of becoming team president after Walsh retired.

But Bird decided to take a break because of an irregular heart beat, a condition that took a year to get under control with medicine. Now, with an increased energy level, Bird was ready to return to basketball.

“I was sort of worn down and didn’t want a part of it, but I feel rejuvenated and ready to get to work,” Bird said Friday.

Walsh now will oversee the Pacers’ business operations and players’ contracts, while Bird will be responsible for picking players and coaches, and for scouting.

Walsh plans to stay with the Pacers four more years and expects that Bird will be his successor.

“I’m really happy to have him back where he belongs, in Indiana,” Walsh said.

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Alonzo Mourning will sign a free-agent contract with the New Jersey Nets next week, Dallas owner Mark Cuban said.

The Mavericks had been interested in signing the former All-Star center with the Miami Heat, but now will have to look elsewhere to fill their void in the middle.

“We found out that Zo is going to N.J.,” Cuban wrote in an e-mail. “Why? A variety of reasons I can’t go into, but foremost is that he felt he had less competition in the East.”

Pat Riley, president and head coach of the Heat, released a statement that said Mourning would not be returning after failing to reach an agreement on a new deal.

“Zo has received an opportunity that is impossible for us to match,” said Riley, calling Mourning the cornerstone of the franchise the last eight seasons

“We each really wanted to make this work, but both sides realized that it was probably time to make a change.”