Larry Brown repeated his oft-stated hope that he could end his coaching career in Indiana.
However, frustration at being unable to take the Pacers to an NBA championship and growing discord with players sent him packing again Wednesday in search of another coaching job."It's tough to leave here because I'm in a basketball state, and I know how people feel about the game, and I appreciate that support, but that's one of the main reasons I'm leaving: I don't think we played the way we were expected to play or they demanded us to play, and that was my responsibility," Brown said in announcing his resignation as Pacers coach.
While praising the players, he also expressed frustration that his veteran team didn't always play to its abilities or the way he asked. No players attended his news conference.
"I was little bit nervous that maybe some of the players might have tuned me out a little bit. I was a little bit concerned about the fact that maybe because there's changes I felt need to be made for some reason, they might not have been able to happen, and I didn't want that to be an issue," Brown said.
In four seasons with the Pacers, Brown became the winningest coach in the franchise's history at 190-138, including a franchise NBA record 52-30 in both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons. The Pacers had never won an NBA playoff series before he arrived, but he took them to the Eastern Conference finals in 1994 and 1995.
The Pacers finished 39-43 this year, becoming only the second losing team that was coached by Brown an entire season. The other was San Antonio, 21-61 in 1988-89. The Pacers missed the NBA playoffs for the first time since 1989.
"I'm leaving because I think it's time to move on. This year was really disappointing," Brown said. "I didn't accomplish what I was hired to do."
He defended his decision to leave the Pacers after four years, saying the NBA had seen more than 50 coaching changes since he took the job here. His four years in Indianapolis were the longest of his five stints coaching NBA teams. Brown, 56, is sixth on the list of career pro coaching victories, having compiled a 624-480 record.
"Sometimes being a coach is like being a second lieutenant in a combat zone - eventually you're going to be shot," Brown said.