Bird, 55, leaves as Pacers’ chief

INDIANAPOLIS — Larry Bird is calling it quits with the Indiana Pacers.

Bird, perhaps the most respected and beloved basketball figure in a state obsessed with the sport, will leave his job as the Pacers’ president of basketball operations at the end of August. He spent four years building the team into an Eastern Conference contender and was this season’s NBA executive of the year, but is instead moving on after saying just a month ago that he was willing to stay.

Bird said health issues were among the reasons for his departure. He said he may need shoulder surgery and cited longstanding issues with his back.

“I just think it’s time,” he said at a news conference Wednesday as the team announced an executive reorganization.

Bird said he was prepared to leave last year with the organization headed in the right direction. He and owner Herb Simon had discussed his eventual departure for a few years. Bird also said that payroll issues with the small market Pacers did not affect his decision.

“He [Simon] knows to get to the next level we’re going to spend some money,” Bird said. “Every time I went to Herb about a player or about money to spend, he questioned it. And he should. At the end of the day, he always said go ahead and do what you have to do to make this team better. That’s the support you need. ... We’re going to spend money.” Bird said he plans to take a year off and get healthy before he evaluates his situation. He did not rule out a return to basketball. Owning a team used to be a goal, but he said he no longer has that interest.

Simon said he had hoped to keep Bird, who will stay onfor the draft when the Pacers are scheduled to pick No.

26 overall in the first round tonight. His contract expires Aug. 30.

“Larry could have stayed here as long as he wants, but he has his own reasons,” Simon said.

Bird, 55, was the Pacers coach from 1997-2000, taking the team to its only NBA Finals appearance that final year before he returned to the team’s front office in 2003. He took full control as president of basketball decisions after the 2007-2008 season, when Donnie Walsh left to become the New York Knicks’ president.

Walsh is returning as the Pacers’ president. Kevin Pritchard, the director of player personnel, is being promoted to general manager, replacing David Morway, who resigned Tuesday.

Bird had said just a month ago that he wanted to stay and expressed interest in a threeyear deal rather than the annual “handshake” agreements he had with Simon.

It wasn’t to be, and now the Pacers will look to continue their resurgence. Under Bird, the Pacers went 36-46 in 2008-2009 and 32-50 in 2009-2010 and then, two seasons ago, the Pacers were 17-27 when Bird fired coach Jim O’Brien in what proved to be a spark.

Interim coach Frank Vogel took a young team with core players Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and Darren Collison and guided it to the playoffs. The Pacers challenged the Chicago Bulls before losing the first-round series 4-1. This year, Indiana beat Orlando easily in the first round before falling to eventual champion Miami in six games.

Bird, a former Indiana State star from tiny French Lic, won three MVP awards and three NBA titles during his Hall of Fame career with Boston.