Bird's view from top

In a wide-ranging interview yesterday, Bird said returning to the Celtics as a full-time executive was never really in his plans. According to Bird, he turned down an offer from the Gastons to be "totally involved" in the basketball operations. He also declined an offer from Rick Pitino to be an assistant, telling him, "If I wanted to coach that team, I would be head coach." When asked if he would have accepted an offer like the one made to Danny Ainge, Bird said, "No, not in Boston." And once again, for the record, Bird never had any conversations with the new ownership about taking an executive role with the Celtics.

Bird wants his Boston fans to remember him as a player. He made that clear years ago. But he still has plenty to say about the Celtics, Ainge, Paul Pierce, and Antoine Walker, as well as his situation with the Pacers and the firing of Isiah Thomas.

Bird has been a Walker supporter. He remains far less critical of Walker than many in the Boston area who saw the trade as a necessary step in restructuring the team.

"I'm an Antoine Walker fan," said Bird. "I would love to have him here. He just makes too much money. But you've got to remember that team chemistry is very, very important in winning a lot of ballgames. You've got to have a team that's really a team and you've got to have the chemistry that guys get along and are willing to sacrifice a little bit of their game to make someone else better.

"Antoine is a talented young man. It's hard to give up 18 [points] and 9 [rebounds] every night. But if [Ainge] didn't feel the chemistry was there, he had to make the move."

Asked if he was surprised when Walker was dealt to Dallas before the season, Bird said, "No. The first thing I thought about was Vin Baker. If Vin Baker doesn't play, they're in trouble. If Vin Baker comes back and plays the way he's capable of playing, they'll be fine. I saw him in New Hampshire [in a Pacers-Celtics exhibition game] and I thought, `This guy has got a chance to get back to where he was at.' And I just saw him [against Sacramento], where he played very well. If he continues to do that, they'll be fine."

So far, the biggest move of Bird's brief tenure with Indiana has been firing Thomas and naming Rick Carlisle coach. When Bird was hired, many wondered whether he would be able to coexist with a bitter rival from his playing days. While Bird hoped to get on the same page with Thomas, it quickly became clear the coach had to go.

Asked if the Pacers' first-round playoff loss to the Celtics last season had anything to do with the decision, Bird said, "A lot to do with it."

The Pacers, in fact, have not won a playoff series since Bird, as their coach, led them to the 2000 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Lakers in six games, Thomas succeeded Bird starting with the 2000-01 season.

"We just didn't have much communication at all when I was here," said Bird of his brief working relationship with Thomas. "I was very concerned about the attitude of the team. They started out and had a great first half of the year, then they just really fell apart the last half. I think it had something to do with the players, the attitude of the players, and obviously somewhat of what the coaches were doing.

"When I came in here, my first thing was to try to just see if I could work with Isiah and his coaching staff. The thing that probably bothered me the most was he had a lot of young guys -- Mark Aguirre as an assistant, George Glymph as one of his assistants. He really didn't have a guy that had been in basketball for a long period of time.

"Then, after we had a meeting, he went out and hired Ronnie Rothstein. But as things went on, I felt I would hate to get into the middle of the season and have to do something, especially when you've got a guy like Rick Carlisle sitting out there."

Bird believed Carlisle was the right coach for the job, and at this early juncture of the season, that appears to be correct. The Pacers enter tonight's game against the Celtics with an Eastern Conference-best 6-1 record.

Bird said he is comfortable delegating responsibilities. Carlisle, he said, "doesn't tell me who to bring in here and I don't tell him how to coach." He thinks the team needs a "young Reggie Miller" type, someone who can knock down 3-pointers on a consistent basis. With the way opponents double-team Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest in the post, if Miller is not wide open when the ball swings around, the Pacers don't have anyone who can hit a 3-pointer and keep the defense honest.

"I'll never tell him how he should coach," said Bird. "I'll never tell him who he should play. We discuss different players at times. There's players that I like and players that I really don't like. But I know he knows how to mold the type of team that he wants with the talent we have here."

Pierce qualifies as a player Bird likes.

"I don't know how much better he can get," said Bird. "Obviously, everybody can improve. But as far as scoring points, rebounding, going to the free throw line . . .

"He had a great playoff series against the Pacers. I think the sky's the limit for him. I don't know him. I've never met him. I don't know his work ethic. But I know when you need baskets, you go to Paul Pierce."

On Baker, Bird added, "I don't know Vin's problems that he's had. But I remember coaching against him. He gave us 42 one night. I know what he's capable of doing. He seems like he had pretty good games against us every time we played them. But he had a couple years there where he really didn't get much accomplished at all. I thought it was a big gamble when they signed him and brought him in there for the money that he was making. But, hey, if the guy can produce and win ballgames for them, it was a great deal."

While the Pacers are playing well and the Celtics have fewer worries with the reemergence of Baker, Bird believes home-court advantage will be significant in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Then again, the Pacers held home-court advantage over the Celtics and still lost in six games. With Bird overseeing the organization, don't expect that to happen again.

"I think it's very important to have home-court advantage," said Bird. "I think it's very important in the East. A lot of teams talentwise are evenly matched. I think it's going to come down to whoever is playing well at the end of the season, and whoever gets on a roll at the right time is probably going to win the East."