"It frustrated me enough to step aside" - Larry Bird cleared the air on why he suddenly left his front office role with the Indiana Pacers

“It frustrated me enough to step aside” – Larry Bird cleared the air on why he suddenly left his front office role with the Indiana Pacers originally appeared on Basketball Network.

It felt like the end of an era in Indiana when Larry Bird stepped down as the president of basketball operations in 2017.

For 14 seasons, Bird sat at the head of the table, building gritty, intelligent teams and just good enough to keep knocking on the door. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, he walked away.

For some time, rumors swirled that the NBA legend left out of frustration — that Pacers ownership wouldn’t spend “big money,” that he got tired of being handcuffed in the small-market grind. But Bird wanted to set the record straight.

“A published report indicated that I left my position as President of Basketball Operations in 2017 because ownership was not willing to spend ‘big money’ and that it frustrated me enough to step aside,” he said in 2020. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I want everyone to know I left there because it was time for me to move on from the Pacers.”

Bird, who has never been one for theatrics or excuses, insisted it was about timing and about trusting the people he’d mentored to carry the torch.

“I had worked with Kevin Pritchard and at that time, I felt Kevin was ready to take over and he has proven that,” he said. “I can’t thank Herb and Mel Simon, along with Pacers Sports & Entertainment, enough for the opportunities to, at first, coach, and then later move into the front office.”

Building teams that just kept knocking

Bird took the Pacers front office reins in 2003, and the franchise’s DNA immediately shifted. Under his guidance, Indiana became a perennial playoff team, making the postseason in 11 of his 14 seasons as president.

The early years were rocky, marred by the Malice at the Palace in 2004 and some roster instability. But Bird kept finding ways to keep Indiana competitive, even in a small market and against slim odds. The crown jewel of his executive tenure came in the early 2010s.

One of the few men ever to win three straight NBA MVP awards, he assembled a roster that — for a brief, tantalizing moment — looked like it could unseat LeBron James and the Miami Heat. Those Pacers teams of 2012–2014 had everything: Paul George blossoming into a superstar, Roy Hibbert anchoring the paint, David West’s toughness, Lance Stephenson’s chaos, and one of the league’s stingiest defenses.

In the 2013-14 season, the Pacers roared to a 56-26 record — the best in the East — and Bird was named NBA Executive of the Year.

Through December, they sat atop the league at 25-5, playing with a level of confidence that made the entire league take notice. But once again, when May rolled around, they ran into James and his Heat. That year’s Eastern Conference finals was the third time in three years that Indiana’s season ended at the hands of James.

It wasn’t just Miami, either. After the four-time MVP returned to Cleveland in 2014, the Pacers, still sturdy and punching above their weight, ran into his Cavaliers and fell short yet again.

Bird never publicly complained about trying to build in the shadow of a generational player, but you could see it on his face during those playoff runs: a quiet frustration that his teams kept getting close enough to believe, only to watch arguably the game’s greatest player ever routinely close the door.

Stepping away on his own terms

When the legendary forward finally decided to step down in 2017, it caught some by surprise. The timing didn’t seem obvious. But to Bird, it felt right.

“It was time for me to move on,” he said. “I knew Kevin was ready to take over and he has proven that.”

There had been some fuel to the notion that he left because ownership wouldn’t spend. That narrative, he said, was nonsense. Former ESPN writer Jackie MacMullan — who first implied Bird had grown frustrated with ownership — even issued a public apology.

“Larry Bird never expressed those feelings to me,” MacMullan said, “and I apologize to both Larry and team owner Herb Simon for poor choice of my words.”

Bird’s tenure in Indiana was not gilded with championships like his Boston Celtics playing career, but it left a lasting mark.

He guided the Pacers through one of the toughest eras in NBA history to compete in the Eastern Conference, consistently building 50-win teams, consistently finding and developing talent in an unforgiving market.

And just like on the court, Bird left on his own terms.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.

“It frustrated me enough to step aside” – Larry Bird cleared the air on why he suddenly left his front office role with the Indiana Pacers

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