Larry Bird was a legend before he ever returned to his home state of Indiana to take a job with the Pacers, as one of only three players to win three consecutive MVP awards.
He made history in 1998 when he won the NBA Coach of the Year award, becoming the first man in history to win an MVP award as a player and then go on to become the NBA's top coach.
Wednesday, Bird achieved a feat that may never be equaled.
Bird, who has been the Pacers' President of Basketball Operations since 2003, was named on Wednesday as the NBA's Executive of the Year. Naturally, if no man had ever been both MVP and Coach of the Year, then it stands to reason that no man had ever captured those two honors and the award for the top executive. However, while it's certainly conceivable that another MVP could go on to be either a great coach or a great executive, being both just doesn't seem in the cards.
Not that you'll find Bird talking about it much.
"This is an honor for the Indiana Pacers, not an award for Larry Bird," Bird said upon receiving the award. "Everyone in this franchise put in a lot of work and showed a lot of patience as we have tried to get this team to a level on and off the court the fans in Indiana can be proud of. You always believe, and hope, the players you get will fit into a plan and I'm very proud of what our guys and our coaches have accomplished so far this year."
The Pacers finished the regular-season with a record of 42-24, winning the Central Division, and they are currently tied with the Miami Heat at one game apiece in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. Oddly enough, the Pacers team Bird has assembled bears little if any resemblance to the Pacers team he coached during the late 90s, let alone his great Celtics teams of the 80s.
Where Bird was clearly the star of the Celtics' championship teams in the 80s (not to minimize the major contributions of Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, et al), and Reggie Miller and Rik Smits were the clear stars of the Pacers, Indiana was featured in Sports Illustrated earlier this season precisely because they don't have a clear star. Center Roy Hibbert earned his first All-Star nod this year, but the Pacers are a model of balance. Danny Granger still leads the team in scoring (18.7 points per game during the regular season, 17.9 PPG in the playoffs), but posted his lowest regular-season scoring average since 2006-07, his second year in the league. Behind him on the stat sheet were five players - Hibbert, David West, Paul George, Darren Collison and George Hill - who averaged between 9.6 and 12.8 points per game (a group that grew to include Leandro Barbosa after a March trade with the Raptors).
The makeup of Bird's Pacers team makes for a stark contrast with the Heat, built around the "Big Three" of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, a point that will undoubtedly be made more and more if Bosh's strained abdominal muscle opens the door for a Pacers upset.
For now, though, the Pacers have put their President in the history books.
Again.
