Pacers co-owner names self CEO

Indiana Pacers co-owner Herb Simon thinks he’s found the perfect person to replace CEO Donnie Walsh – himself.\nSimon announced Wednesday that he is moving into day-to-day operations as chairman and chief executive officer of the franchise after years of mostly hands-off ownership. Walsh resigned last month after leading the Pacers for more than two decades, then accepted a job as president of the New York Knicks.\n“When Donnie left, there was some reason for me to get more involved than I ever have been involved, and it’s a time in my life ... where I have more time to devote to it,” the 73-year-old Simon said.\nLarry Bird will remain as the team’s president of basketball operations.\nSimon named Jim Morris as president of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, the Simon-owned company that runs the Pacers, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and Conseco Fieldhouse. Morris is a former president of the Lilly Endowment and had been an executive with the Pacers for the past year.\nBird and Morris will report directly to Simon.\nThe Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals six times and won the Central Division four times under Walsh. They made the NBA finals in 2000, when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, and had the league’s best record in 2004.\nBut the past three seasons have been a troublesome mix of losing and off-the-court problems. The Pacers have had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1987-88 and 1988-89 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.\nSimon sees potential in the team, which enters Wednesday’s game against New York having won 10 of 15.\n“I’m getting energized myself over this, and I’m getting excited,” he said. “I should have done this a long time ago. It seems like it’s going to be hard work, but it’s going to be rewarding, I believe, for everybody.”\nBrothers Herb and Mel Simon have owned the Pacers since 1983 but have allowed others to oversee things. Now, Herb Simon plans to look at the franchise from top to bottom and make it more responsive to fans and sponsors.\n“Before, I was a ‘hands-on, hands-off’ owner. Now, I’m going to be a ‘hands-on, hands-on’ owner.”