Reports: Larry Bird to return as Pacers' top exec

Larry Bird will return to the Pacers' front office after a year's absence. (Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)

Larry Bird is returning to the Pacers in a front office role, according to reports.

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Starreports Bird agreed to return to the Pacers as the organization's top man -- and will start Monday.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted a league source on Bird's return.

The Pacers will make a formal announcement of Bird's return and role in a press conference Thursday morning. According to the Star, general manager Kevin Pritchard will stay on as Bird’s No. 2 while Donnie Walsh, who previously said he would step aside if Bird returned, will become a consultant. Bird will not be involved in Thursday’s draft, which Walsh and Pritchard have been working on for months.

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Bird will return to the Pacers after taking a year off to deal with physical issues and to clear his mind. He reportedly withdrew his name from the Kings' search for a general manager earlier in June.

From the Star:

“He’s got plenty of rings of his own, now I want him to win one for me,” Pacers owner Herb Simon told The Star. “He’s got his energy back, his health back and he’s raring to go.

“First of all, we all realize he’s done a pretty good job with the team,” Simon said. “He left because of physical reasons. It was always contemplated that when he straightened out his medical issues he would come back. The only thing is we didn’t know if it would take a year or more for him to feel strong enough to get back and apparently he had a good year and is ready to come back.”