Donnie Walsh, Indiana Pacers’ CEO, said that he would be willing to return to the Pacers for another year if he was asked but he would discuss the new contract only after the season is over.
Walsh informed that he had already had a discussion with the Pacers’ co-owner Herb Simon about returning. This is despite the fact that Walsh, who is 65 years old, knew when he was signing his current contract, which is now in its fourth and final year, it would be his last so that Larry Bird, Pacers’ team president, could become the next CEO.
Walsh said that at the end of the year if the Pacers’ owners wanted him to stay on, he would and if he felt that it helped the Pacers, he would stay on with the franchise. Walsh further added that he would have no regrets if he were no more the CEO of the Pacers and this feeling continues even though he had to handle the fight between Pacers players and Detroit Piston fans two seasons ago and the off court problems that Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels are facing this season.
Over the last three years Pacers’ image has gone downhill and Walsh has been spending a lot of time trying to rebuild the image that Pacers once had.
After the Pacers players had a brawl with Piston fans in November 2004, Ron Artest was suspended for 73 regular season games and playoffs, Jackson was suspended for 30 games while Jermaine O’Neal missed 15 games. During that season, Pacers were strong contenders for the title but lost in the second round of the playoffs. This loss felt no better since many players were involved in number of court cases.
In October 2006, Jackson, Tinsley, Daniels and Jimmie Hunter were involved in a fight in the parking lot of an Indianapolis strip club. This was during a training camp and police claimed that Jackson fired a gun in the air. Jackson, who now plays for Golden State, was charged with criminal recklessness, battery and disorderly conduct.
In February 2007, Tinsley was indicted on four counts while Daniels was indicted on two charges of misdemeanor for their role in a fight in Indianapolis nightclub earlier in the month.
Walsh has been trying to improve the team and regain the lost fan base. The Pacers traded Jackson, Al Harrington, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell to the Warriors in lieu of Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod. They are now 9-5 with the new players, and are climbing the Eastern Conference standings with 29-24.