HoopsHype.com Rumors

This was the owner's call, pure and simple. This was Herb Simon rolling into team president Larry Bird's office last week and telling the Hoosier legend that a head coaching change must be made. The Indiana Pacers will try to sell it otherwise, and even Bird tried to sell it Sunday afternoon as his decision, but that's a complete fabrication. Simon wanted coach Jim O'Brien gone after the team's winless West Coast trip, and when that didn't happen, Simon insisted upon O'Brien's ouster after Wednesday's miserable home performance against Orlando. Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien, Frank Vogel, Herb Simon 

The Indiana Pacers fired coach Jim O’Brien on Sunday morning, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. O’Brien’s firing comes after the Pacers lost seven of their past eight games to drop to 10th place in the Eastern Conference. After a strong start to the season, the Pacers have faded in recent weeks and O’Brien’s abrasive and erratic coaching style became a greater issue within the organization. The front office wasn’t happy with how O’Brien had publicly chastised promising young center Roy Hibbert(notes), despite the player’s earnest efforts to improve. Yahoo! Sports

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien 

Mike Wells: Jim O'Brien has been fired as Pacers coach, according to multiple sources. Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien 

Assistant Frank Vogel is expected to coach the team for the remainder of the season, but Larry Bird will have some say on who plays according to a source. Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien, Frank Vogel 

Assistant coach Frank Vogel will take over as interim coach for the remainder of the season, but multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports that former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown – once a Pacers assistant – will be a primary focus of the search to replace O’Brien on a long-term basis. Brown was Rick Carlisle’s top assistant in Indiana from 2003-05 and sources said he has remained well-regarded by Pacers management. Yahoo! Sports

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Mike Brown, Jim O'Brien, Frank Vogel 

Utah Jazz assistant coach Ty Corbin is also expected to be a strong candidate, sources said. Yahoo! Sports

Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Coaching, Jim O'Brien, Ty Corbin 

O'Brien was said to be safe through the rest of the season, as no one on his staff was seen as head coach material. On Sunday, though, that story changed in a big way: Yahoo! Sports reports that the Pacers have fired O'Brien. CBSSports.com's Ken Berger has confirmed the decision, citing multiple sources. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien 

The Indianapolis Star reports that Pacers assistant Frank Vogel is "expected to coach the team for the remainder of the season." According to his NBA.com bio, Vogel is just 37-years-old and in his eighth season as an assistant coach. Once tabbed, Vogel will surpass New Orleans Hornets coach Monty Williams as the youngest head coach in the NBA. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien, Frank Vogel 

Speculation about significant organizational changes has stemmed from the fact that Bird's contract has the same expiration date as GM David Morway's and coach Jim O'Brien's. That was by design, according to a source who said Simon agreed to give the trio three years to put the franchise on the right footing after the decline that followed the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004. The plan all along has been for Simon to evaluate everyone after the season, but one source said the owner is "happy" with the progress of the team. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird, Jim O'Brien, David Morway 

Having said that, if Bird decides to walk away, the domino effect could be significant. The key player in this whose future would appear to be most uncertain is O'Brien, to whom Bird recently gave a faint vote of confidence by saying he'll be evaluated after the season. Currently, there are no plans to make an in-season coaching change, but Pacers officials wouldn't rule it out if the losing continues. CBSSports.com

Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird, Jim O'Brien, David Morway 

It didn't happen because Ford played his way out the rotation, according to coach Jim O'Brien, but because the struggling Pacers are gradually beginning their youth movement. They are looking to see who they can count on in the future. Ford has been replaced by second-year player A.J. Price. "It wasn't anything that was discussed to me," Ford said. "It kind of just happened. Going into the season, I felt at some point it would happen. In my view, I'm not too surprised. Just a little shocked it happened right now." Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, TJ Ford, Jim O'Brien 

Ford hasn't been a locker room distraction, and he's a huge supporter of Price and Stephenson. "That's not me. I'm not going to make it all about me," Ford said. "Things haven't gone the way I would have liked them to, but that's the way it goes." Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, TJ Ford, Jim O'Brien 

Chris Tomasson: Indiana coach Jim O'Brien on Carmelo Anthony: "I'd like to see him stay (in Denver). I'd like to see him stay in the West.'' Twitter

Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Carmelo Anthony, Jim O'Brien 

Barring a sudden change of thought, the Pacers have no intention of replacing O’Brien, who is in the final year of his contract. They wouldn’t move any of the assistants up and there’s no point in bringing in somebody from the outside because the players would have to learn the new coach’s system on the fly over the final 41 games of the season. Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien 

I said it last summer, and I’ll say it again, there’s only one person to coach this team if there’s a change. His name is Larry Bird. Bird has no intention of coaching. The Pacers’ record indicates they should be making summer vacation plans (some of them might be doing that already) right now. But playing in the East is allowing them to keep some hope that they have a chance of making the playoffs. Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Larry Bird, Jim O'Brien 

Indiana Pacers brass is not pleased with the performance of head coach Jim O'Brien, according to several league sources. That said, O'Brien, who is in the last year of his contract, is likely to remain as coach the rest of the season. Part of the reason is that no one on O'Brien's staff -- Dan Burke, Frank Vogel, Jay DeFruscio, Vitaly Potapenko and Walter McCarty -- is viewed as a suitable replacement. ESPN.com

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien 

One complaint about O'Brien is the strange way he divvies up minutes: Tyler Hansbrough plays 36 minutes one night, posting 23 points and 12 rebounds, and just 23 minutes the next; Paul George plays 21 minutes one night, four the next. GM David Morway could also be in trouble after the season, and league scuttlebutt has former Portland GM Kevin Pritchard as a likely replacement. Pritchard was close to being hired as the replacement for Rod Thorn in New Jersey, but the Nets, of course, settled on Billy King. ESPN.com

Indiana Pacers, Coaching, Jim O'Brien, David Morway 

One name coach Jim O'Brien would like added to that list is veteran Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy, 30, is the final year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. "That's another discussion that's out my hands," O'Brien said. "I desperately want Mike Dunleavy as a future player in this organization." Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, Free Agency, Mike Dunleavy, Jim O'Brien 

Mike Wells: O'Brien not doing his best to help Hibbert win MIP. Just told a handful of reporters that he doesn't think Roy is having a very good season Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Roy Hibbert, Jim O'Brien 

Mike Wells: Hibbert agreed with O'Brien's assessment. "I'm playing like crap now," he said. "It's been like that since we got back from out West." Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Roy Hibbert, Jim O'Brien