Are the Indiana Pacers Still Hearing Voices?

On April 16, 2008, the Indiana Pacers announced that co-owner Herbert Simon would take on the role of Chairman and CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Jim Morris would become President of PS&E, while Larry Bird would stay on as President of Basketball Operations.

After the departure of Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh, Pacers co-owner Herb Simon found it necessary to fill the vacated position with someone to focus on reconnecting with the community and the fans.

The Pacers have become a public relations disaster, and Simon feels that Morris is the person best qualified to turn things around.

With his prior job experience feeding the hungry director of the United Nations World Food Program, Morris' resume alone is a step closer to getting the respectability this NBA franchise is starving for.      

Naming someone with a job history in helping less fortunate people is the right move, given the fact that the Pacers' public image is the NBA equivalent to Sally Struthers’s kids. They’re sickly, ignored, and in need of your help.   

Did you know that for the price of one ticket a day, you can make a difference in the life of an NBA franchise?

The hiring of Morris sends a message that makes sense, but that wasn’t the only message sent during the press conference.

In conjunction with announcing his new role with the franchise, Herb Simon made his intentions known. He stated, "Before I was a hands-on, hands-off owner. Now I'm going to be a hands-on, hands-on owner.”

On the surface, that statement makes about as much sense as a Jamaal Tinsley contract extension. But it seems what Mr. Simon is saying here is that his level of involvement will be increasing substantially.   

One would assume that Morris would be in charge of the Pacers' P.R., and Larry Bird would be in control of Basketball Operations with Simon overseeing both. This assumption is completely logical, considering the reasons given for Donnie Walsh moving onto the New York Knicks.  

 

One Voice

During the press conference, the phrase “one voice” was used ad nauseum.

Either Bird or Walsh really wanted the public to think they had fixed the problem of having too many cooks in the kitchen. Or maybe they had a bet going—whoever said the phrase the least number of times had to take on the remainder of Jermaine O’Neal’s contract.   

Wednesday’s press conference became interesting during the Q&A session after the announcement.

If you weren’t paying close attention, the most eyebrow-raising moment came when Larry Bird was asked if he felt Jermaine O’Neal fit in with the style the Pacers are trying to play. Basically, this was a roundabout way of bringing up what Bird intended to do with O’Neal in the offseason.

Bird gave your typical answer, referring to O’Neal’s injury, but did not open the door to discussing any trade intentions.

At this moment, Herb Simon felt moved to interject with this comment:

“Since I'm not the basketball man, I'd like to answer that question. If Jermaine gets back to the playing ability he has had and has shown us in the past he'd be a very important part of our team.”

A slight moment of awkward silence followed, the kind you’d find numerous times in an episode of The Office.

One voice? Really?   

Did he really just start by saying, "since I'm not the basketball man,” followed by making a statement that appeared as though he had made one of the two major basketball decisions the team faces this offseason?

If O’Neal returns in good health, you’d think the Pacers would attempt to get rid of him immediately. The window of Jermaine O’Neal's good health doesn’t stay open long, so why wouldn’t the Pacers capitalize on it, and be free of a player who doesn’t fit their new system and has a contract that’s crippling the franchise?

What’s ironic is that at the press conference, when asked about how important it was to have one voice after so many years of having two voices, Simon replied, "I think that's maybe one of the side benefits of clarifying the situation (Walsh leaving), having Larry's voice being the only voice.

“Some people got confused. I liked having both of them, but I think we're going to do very well with Larry.”

When Walsh left for New York, it seemed as though Bird would finally get the chance to sink or swim on his own. At this point it is unclear who is responsible for all the poor management decisions made by the Pacers’ front office.

How much say Bird had versus Walsh may never be known to the public. But with Bird now solely at the helm, it looks as though we might get an idea based on what he accomplished after Walsh left.   

With one little remark, all of that comes into question. Does Bird have complete control of what happens on the court? Has Herb Simon just placed himself into the “basketball man” role behind the scenes? What exactly is the difference between a hands-on, hands-off owner and a hands-on, hands-on owner?
 

That might be too many questions for only one voice to answer.

Fortunately, it seems in their attempt to reorganize and become more focused, the Pacers are back to having more voices than Frank Caliendo.