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During Larry Bird’s job interview with Pacers president Donnie Walsh for the team’s head coaching job in 1997, the NBA legend broke down all of his ideas, showing Walsh specifically what kind of a plan he had.
Bird, an Indiana native, had been a magnificent player for 13 seasons with the Celtics. But Larry Legend had no coaching experience — not even as an assistant. But he was able to convince Walsh he was the right choice.
“He spent about two hours, which took us from the first day of training camp to the Finals of the NBA, and told me every single thing he would do with our team,” Walsh said in a telephone interview. “And I’ll give you a sequel to that. That was one thing. I thought he was pretty much on it.”
What was the sequel?
“We went to the Finals [in 2000] and then Larry left,” Walsh said. “And it struck me … everything he told me in that two-hour meeting, that’s what he did. And it worked.
“I’ve never had that before.”
Bird ranks as one of the best recent examples of an athlete who earned a NBA head coaching job or a manager job without any experience. No assistant coaching, no major league bench coaching, no minor league managing.
This is the same leap Jason Kidd will attempt with the Nets.
The Cardinals’ Mike Matheny, White Sox manager Robin Ventura and the Rockies’ Walt Weiss are the only current MLB managers without any coaching experience. But all three have done terrific work so far.
In the NBA, recent examples include Bird, Doc Rivers with the Magic and Mark Jackson with the Warriors — and all have succeeded, or even thrived.
Others don’t work as well. A.J. Hinch was the Diamondbacks’ director of player development before becoming manager in 2009, without any coaching or managing experience. Hinch, who played parts of just seven major league seasons, went 89-123 as manager.
“I was a little naïve in maybe some of the volume of the doubt [about my credibility],” said Hinch, now an assistant general manager with the Padres. “But ultimately if you do talk to some of the players behind the scenes, it wasn’t nearly as bad as people would perceive it to be. But the losses mounting certainly didn’t help me quiet the critics.”
“There’s a lot of things to consider. On both parts,” said White Sox executive VP Kenny Williams, who hired Ventura, an ex-Chisox third baseman, before last season. “Because as Robin has found out, it’s one thing to be the favorite son as the player. But when you come back and now you’re the manager and you take out the pitcher and then the bullpen … comes in and loses the game for you, they forget about that home run that you hit to win the game in 1993.”
Among successes, Matheny’s probably is both the most and least surprising. Matheny had to replace perhaps the game’s best manager when Tony La Russa retired after winning the 2011 World Series. Considering St. Louis still had a terrific team, it couldn’t afford any growing pains.
But it also is the least surprising because the Cards still did have a great team. And they rank among the sport’s best organizations, with annual contention and excellent player development. In fact, management’s intelligence was one reason why Matheny — who had worked only as a roving minor league catching instructor — said he believed he was ready for the job “the minute they called me” for an interview.
“I wouldn’t have wasted their time otherwise,” Matheny said. “I was honored and humbled that they considered me, but I know that there’s a lot of smart people in charge of making decisions around here, and they don’t do things just to make people feel good.”
In Matheny’s first season last year, the Cardinals went to Game 7 of the NLCS, and this year they have baseball’s best record.
“You find that [inexperience is] really no big deal,” Cards pitcher Lance Lynn said. “He saw it all from behind the plate when he played.”
Matheny credits being a catcher with helping him because of everything he had to be aware of — from defensive positioning to bullpen status. A point guard is similar, serving as a floor general and orchestrating the offense. — Rivers, Jackson and Kidd were point guards.
“I think that being a point guard is probably something that is helpful,” said former Warriors GM
Larry Riley, who hired Jackson.
It also helps to have the proper support staff, another factor that convinced Walsh about Bird. Walsh told him, “You’ve never done this before so you’ve got to have two really good assistants.”
Bird didn’t dispute that, an awareness Walsh thought was important.
“He realized what he didn’t know, and we ended up with [Dick] Harter and Rick Carlisle [as assistants],” Walsh said. “He had two great guys that could help him, so I thought it could work.”
Cards GM John Mozeliak said Matheny was helped by having “such a mature club, meaning some quality core veterans that could help.” With Ventura, who had been a roving minor league infield evaluator, Williams said he believed his pitching inexperience could be abated by pitching coach Don Cooper, whom Williams called “one of the best in the game.”
And with Jackson in Golden State, Riley thought he could find the proper
assistants. Jackson ended up with Mike Malone (seven years of assistant experience at the time), Pete Myers (nine) and Wes Unseld Jr. (six).
“We felt that as long as something like that were in place,” Riley said, “[Jackson] could overcome the fact that frankly, here’s a young man that’s never called a timeout, never organized a practice.”
Williams worried how White Sox players would react to someone with no experience. He was confident, however, Ventura could make the doubts dissipate. And he knew Ventura was right for the White Sox.
“But there were risks. So what?” Williams said. “There was a risk to hiring Ozzie [Guillen, who won the 2005 World Series with the Chisox]. Where there’s no risk, there’s no reward. I’m sure it’s a tired phrase that people continue to use, but it was really evident in this case.”
mark.hale@nypost.com
First time’s the charm
A look at some other coaches/managers who have gotten their first taste at the helm in the pros:
DOC RIVERS
First coached the Magic in 1999-2000, going 41-41. In Orlando’s previous year, it went 33-17 under Chuck Daly, losing in the first round (had Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson as its two leading scorers that season, did not have them in 1999-2000 with Rivers).
MARK JACKSON
Warriors were 91-155 in their previous three seasons under Don Nelson and Keith Smart before Jackson took over. They went 23-43 in his first season last year before going 47-35 this season and winning a playoff round.
LARRY BIRD
Pacers were 39-43 in 1996-97, missing the playoffs in Larry Brown’s last season with the team. In Bird’s first year in
1997-98, they went 58-24 and lost to the Bulls in the conference finals.
ROBIN VENTURA
White Sox went 79-83 under Ozzie Guillen in 2011, 88-74 in 2010, 79-83 in 2009, 89-74 in 2008 (made playoffs). Last year under Ventura, the Sox went 85-77 (Ventura was third in AL Manager of the Year voting).
MIKE MATHENY
Cardinals won the World Series in 2011 but Tony La Russa left after that. Matheny took over last year, and the Cardinals went 88-74 and lost the NLCS in seven games.