It’s About Time To See If Bird Flies The Coop

The question is the same as it was when Larry Bird made blind passes or amazing shots from behind the backboard: What will he do next?

M.L. Carr’s resignation as director of basketball operations Wednesday left one key figure’s future uncertain in the shakeup of the Boston Celtics.

And Bird’s decision - to help new Celtics coach Rick Pitino with personnel matters or, more likely, to become coach of the Indiana Pacers - should be revealed by Friday.

Pacers president Donnie Walsh and a source close to Bird denied reports that Bird already had agreed to return to his home state and succeed Larry Brown as Indiana’s coach.

A Celtics spokesman said the club was unaware of any decision Bird might have made.

That decision - as Pitino said Tuesday when he was named coach - might come down to whether Bird wants to be in the front office talking by telephone to general managers or on the bench helping his team win games as he did throughout his brilliant 13-year career with Boston that ended in 1992. He has been a special consultant for the Celtics since then.

WISH-TV in Indianapolis, citing an unnamed source close to the family of co-owner Herb Simon, reported that Bird had made a verbal agreement and that the Pacers deal was to be finalized Wednesday night.

The Boston Globe said the offer was $4.5 million a year plus part ownership and that an unidentified source close to Bird indicated Bird would accept it but delay the announcement until after Pitino’s scheduled news conference today in Boston.

Make way for Wizards

The Washington Bullets become the Washington Wizards today. The team, which will move into the new MCI Center, will unveil a new logo.

The team became the Bullets in 1963 when the Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore and named themselves after a team that played during the 1940s.

The franchise is changing its name as part of an anti-violence campaign, team owner Abe Polin said.