Pacers Name Frank Vogel As Head Coach

“We’re very happy to have Frank as our coach,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said in a press release. “As I stated after the season, I was in no hurry regarding the coach, mainly because I knew I had a good candidate in Frank. But we wanted to get through the draft and I wanted to have numerous conversations with Frank about a staff that will cover all areas. I feel strongly he is doing that and this coaching staff, as a whole, will help this franchise continue to move forward.”

The deal can get done even during the NBA lockout because coaches are not considered part of the NBA Players’ Association. It should make for a pretty odd press conference though, since according to a strict interpretation of the rules, Vogel won’t even be allowed to mention his players by name.

For more on Vogel’s hiring, visit SB Nation Indiana and Indy Cornrows.

But that doesn’t matter now, with Shaw just looking for a job for next season while other coaching situations play out. The Pacers haven’t officially hired Vogel as the full-time permanent head coach; they were said to be looking to ensure they could add a strong bench behind him, given his relative inexperience. Shaw definitely accounts as a strong assistant coach given his work on the Lakers.

For more on the Pacers, visit Indy Cornrows and SB Nation Indiana.

The Indiana Pacers fired head coach Jim O’Brien Sunday after three seasons and change of mediocrity. Frank Vogel, a traveled O’Brien deputy, has been named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season as Indiana, despite losses in seven of its past eight games, sits two games behind the Bobcats for the East’s No. 8 seed.

But attention has already turned toward who will run the Pacers next season, and Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports that former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is at the top of the list.

Bird said it wasn’t just the losses that forced his hand, but the way the team lost over its last stretch of games.

For more on the Pacers, check out SB Nation’s Indy Cornrows.

Wojnarowski makes the tweet pretty simple:

The Indiana Pacers have fired coach Jim O’Brien, a league source tells Y! Sports.