The NBA has undergone many transformations over the years. As a keen observer of the game, Hall of Famer and former NBA coach Larry Bird noticed that the frequent firing of coaches has become a trend in the league.
Admittedly, Bird couldn’t help but question NBA executives for often blaming the coaches first whenever the team fails. For someone who had been there and done that, Bird was left baffled by this infamous organizational move that had been going on in the NBA.
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“If you look around the league, there are guys that are being dismissed and you always wonder why,” Bird once said of the constant firing of NBA coaches via Boston Globe. “If you’re there every day and see things that are going on.” His words don’t come from a place of theory, but from a lived experience that stretches across decades of transformation in the league.”
Larry had the right to question the NBA teams
Bird’s take on the subject was not just a random opinion. His comments are worth hearing because he knew firsthand what it was like to be both a coach and an executive in the NBA.
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As a coach, Larry Legend spent three wonderful seasons with the Indiana Pacers in the late ’90s. Under his leadership, the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals, almost eliminating Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs.
Bird’s stellar NBA coaching career did not go unnoticed. In his debut season as a head coach, Bird won the NBA Coach of the Year award.
Years later, Bird embarked on a team management job. He was appointed as the Pacers president and held the front office title for 14 years. Unsurprisingly, the Celtics legend also had a remarkable run as an executive. In 2012, Bird was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year.
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All told, it’s clear that Bird understood how things work both in the front office and the coaching staff department. This also explains why the basketball legend finds it hard to fathom why most NBA bosses are so quick to terminate coaches, as if they do it on a whim.
What was Bird like as a coach?
For most Pacers players, Bird’s three-year stint with the team was the best stretch of their careers. They admired his approach to coaching and appreciated how he made everything as simple as it could possibly be for his players.
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Moreover, they were also in awe of Bird’s in-game coaching style. For them, it was unbelievable how Coach Bird managed to foster an environment rooted in mutual trust and respect, as not all coaches could do this.
“The game gets tight, he gets more comfortable,” Pacers veteran forward Chris Mullin said of Bird in 1998. “It’s an incredible feeling during a timeout of a tie game. He’ll say, ‘Run this, O.K.? Remember, we did it yesterday in practice? Same thing. You’re open; hit the shot. I saw you make 12 of them yesterday.’ Larry makes the game what it is: simple.”
If there is someone who truly understands the game from every standpoint, perhaps that would be none other than the three-time MVP. Though he might not be interested in coaching at this point, Bird’s elite basketball knowledge is still a commodity. In fact, he was welcomed back by the Pacers to their organization as a consultant in 2023.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 29, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.