Larry Bird Steps Down As Indiana Pacers Team President

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The Indiana Pacers saw their season come to an end earlier this week with the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers pulling off the sweep against Paul George and company. With the Pacers now officially in their offseason, all the attention surrounds George’s future with the team and now a surprising move has been made with Larry Bird stepping down as team president.

According to ESPN, Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard will replace Bird as team president:

Larry Bird is stepping down as president of the Indiana Pacers, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears has confirmed. General manager Kevin Pritchard will take over the team.

The Pacers are a team with an uncertain future. Heading into the 2016-17 NBA season, Indiana seemed to be a talented squad with a bright future ahead with George leading the charge, but those high expectations were tempered when things simply didn’t work out as planned and Indiana barely made the playoffs.

With Bird stepping down, it may be a sign the Pacers brass are ready to shake things up and possibly start from scratch. This, of course, could signal the team’s desire to move on from George who has reportedly let his intentions known that he wants to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Indiana has an opportunity to move a superstar-caliber player and bring in a lot of young assets in return. There will be plenty of interest in George with teams like the Lakers and Boston Celtics likely to reach out to see if he’s available.

Bird, however, will remain a consultant to the team.