Bird Will Cut Coaching Teeth At Highest Level

Rick Pitino’s move to Boston sent Larry Bird back to Indiana and shifted Red Auerbach, the man who built a dynasty as Celtics coach, out of his president’s chair.

More than Boston’s front office changed Thursday as the NBA coaching carousel switched into full gear.

P.J. Carlesimo was pushed out of Portland and Eddie Jordan was kept on in Sacramento.

Next to take a ride may be Detroit’s Doug Collins, who, despite a 54-win season, reportedly is ready to leave the Pistons after just two seasons.

Bird, a native of Indiana and a star at Indiana State before his stellar NBA career with Boston, on Thursday accepted the job as coach of the Pacers.

The Pacers gave Bird a contract reportedly worth $4.5 million a year, although Bird has never coached basketball at any level.

Bird, who led the Celtics to three NBA championships and had been an adviser for the franchise since retiring in 1992, will return to his home state for a news conference on Monday, the club said.

Despite Bird’s lack of coaching experience, Pacers president Donnie Walsh has no doubts about his ability.

“He looks at the game from more of a coach’s mind than a player’s mind,” Walsh said. “He’s a very bright guy and a very honest guy, as well as a very tough guy. All those qualities add up. He’d be very successful anywhere he went.”

Auerbach, who won nine championships as coach and who has been president since 1984, yielded the team presidency to Pitino and will become a vice chairman.

The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, fired Carlesimo after three seasons, though their general manager thought the coach did a “good job.”

Portland won 49 games this season and Carlesimo was 137-109 as coach, but the Blazers were eliminated in the first round all three years.

“I think P.J. did a good job this year. This coaching change is not about wins and losses, as many today are,” general manager Bob Whitsitt said.

Whitsitt said the team needed a change, and that Portland wanted to utilize its younger players more.

Jordan, a former NBA player and assistant for five years, was given a two-year contract after just 15 games as interim coach last season.

Jordan was just 6-9 as coach of the Kings in what amounted to a late-season audition, but the team showed signs of improvement, and more importantly in a time where NBA players can get coaches fired, he had his team’s support.

“The first thing I expect is to come back and play for Eddie Jordan as the coach,” forward Corliss Williamson said after the team’s last game. “I think everyone has seen the difference in the team.”’

Riley coach of year

Miami’s Pat Riley joined Don Nelson as the only coaches to win the Red Auerbach Trophy three times when he was named the NBA’s coach of the year.

Riley was coach of the year with Los Angeles in 1990 and with the New York Knicks in 1993. This season he led the Heat to their first division title, and into the second round of the playoffs - where they trail the New York Knicks in their best-of-7 series - for the first time in their nine-year history.

“He’s the hardest-working man in basketball,” Heat forward P.J. Brown said. “Nobody predicted us to do anything. We were supposed to be at the bottom of our division, battling to make the playoffs, and we won 61 games. It’s a deserved award.”

Riley received 69 of 115 votes from a panel of sports writers and sportscasters. Charlotte’s Dave Cowens finished second with 22 votes, and Utah’s Jerry Sloan was third with 13.

The Heat won just 32 games the year before Riley arrived in 1995, and only one player - Keith Askins - remains from the roster he inherited. This season Miami has been widely regarded as an overachieving team, with minimum-salary players such as Isaac Austin and Voshon Lenard making key contributions.

Bulls fined $25,000

The Chicago Bulls were fined $25,000 Thursday by the NBA for failing to make their players available to the media after practice Wednesday.