Written by Ken Berger at CBSSports.com
When it comes to Frank Vogel’s future with the Indiana Pacers, don’t be fooled.
Don’t be deceived into believing that it has anything to do with Vogel’s record as the Pacers coach, or whether he deserves to stay or go.
Haven’t we learned yet in the NBA coaching business that sometimes — oftentimes — it isn’t about that?
In his first full season as Pacers coach in 2011-12, Vogel led them to the second round of the playoffs — this, after four non-playoff seasons sandwiched between two first-round exits.
The next two seasons brought trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Pacers lost both times to LeBron James and the Miami Heat. No shame in that.
Then Paul George gruesomely broke his leg, Roy Hibbert disappeared from the face of the Earth and David West — the heart and soul of this Indiana era of success — left millions on the table to go chase a title in San Antonio.
Despite all that, Vogel’s Pacers won 45 games this season and pushed the second-seeded Raptors to seven games in the first round.
It isn’t a good coaching résumé; it’s a great coaching résumé.
And yet here we are, with team president Larry Bird telling my friend Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star the following:
“It’s no secret; I want us to score more points.”
And with Vogel’s contract up, Bird said this on his coach’s future:
“I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
And this:
“What I don’t want to do is leave Frank hanging; there’s other jobs out there he could get.”
That last statement is at once a commentary on Bird being a stand-up executive with class, and proof enough that Bird’s mind is already made up.
If you don’t know that you want your coach of five-plus seasons back for another one, that tells you everything you need to know.
Why, you ask?
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