>> Gerry Dick: HE STILL HAS THE ACCENT OF A NATIVE NEW YORKER, BUT WHAT ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS IN GENERAL AND THE INDIANA PACERS
IN PARTICULAR HAVE DONE WITHOUT THE INFLUENCE OF THIS MAN WHO DECIDED TO MAKE INDIANA HIS HOME FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS.
BILL BENNER HAS MORE IN THIS WEEK'S INSIDE INDIANA SPORTS. >> Bill Benner: OF COURSE WE'RE REFERENCING THE PACERS' LONG
TIME GENERAL MANAGER AND FRANCHISE PRESIDENT DONNIE WALSH WHO TURNED THE PACERS INTO A SUCCESS THAT WOULD LEAD TO THE
BUILD OF CONSECO AND LATER BANKERS LIFE FIELDHOUSE. HE'S JUST MOVED INTO RETIREMENT, AND WE'RE DELIGHTED HE COULD
JOIN US ON THE PROGRAM. DONNIE, WELCOME. I'M HONORED YOU COULD MAKE TIME TO JOIN US.
>> Donnie Walsh: IT'S GREAT TO BE WITH YOU TODAY, BILL, THANK YOU. >> Bill Benner: AN INCREDIBLE
TENURE WITH THE INDIANA PACERS. YOU ARRIVE IN 1984 AS AN ASSISTANT COACH, ELEVATED TO GENERAL MANAGER IN 1986, AND YOU
QUICKLY MADE THE DECISION THAT WAS THE FIRST BUILDING BLOCK IN SUCCESS WHEN YOU DRAFTED REGGIE MILLER OR STEVE ALFORD.
WHEN YOU DRAFTED REGGIE AND BUILT THE PIECES AROUND HIM, THAT WAS TRANSFORMATIVE FOR THE PACERS.
>> Donnie Walsh: ACTUALLY, IT WAS MY SECOND DRAFT. THE FIRST DRAFT I TOOK CHUCK PAIR
PEARSON WHO I GOT LOUDLY BOOED FOR. HE TURNED OUT TO BE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.
THAT TURNED OUT ALL RIGHT FOR ME. AND THEN OF COURSE SECOND WAS REGGIE I BELIEVE, AND STEVE
ALFORD WAS IN THAT DRAFT. RIGHTFULLY, I THINK PEOPLE WANTED ME TO TAKE STEVE ALFORD. HE HAD HAD A TERRIFIC CAREER AT
IU, AND THEY WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. BUT I JUST THOUGHT THAT HIS GAME WAS, YOU KNOW, SUITED FOR
COLLEGE AND THAT REGGIE WAS GOING TO BE THE SAME KIND OF PLAYER, BUT IN THE PROS. SO I MADE THAT DECISION.
AND I THINK, IN MY OWN MIND, I THINK STEVE DID THE RIGHT THING BY ENDING UP BEING A COACH BECAUSE HE BECAME A VERY GOOD
COACH. >> Bill Benner: AND THEN YOU, AROUND REGGIE, YOU REALLY BUILT AN INCREDIBLE TEAM.
YOU BROUGHT IN THE DAVIS BOYS, RICK SMITZ, MARK JACKSON, THE LIST GOES ON. BUT IN 1994, YOU HIRED THIS --
YOUR FORMER COLLEGE BUDDY, YOUR FELLOW NEW YORKER, LARRY BROWN. LARRY BROWN WAS AGAIN THE RIGHT GUY AT THE RIGHT TIME FOR THE
BUILDING OF THIS FRANCHISE. >> Donnie Walsh: HE WAS. HE WAS BECAUSE WE NEEDED SOMEBODY THAT COULD PUT THESE
GUYS TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT THEY COULD WIN IT IN THE NBA. AND LAYRRY BROWN WAS THAT KIND F GUY.
HE WAS A TEACHER TO BEGIN WITH, WHICH IS KIND OF WHAT WE HAVE NOW WITH NATE AND I THINK HE'LL DO A GREAT JOB, AND THE TEAM
LEADED LARRY AT THAT TIME. NOW, THEY DIDN'T LIKE PLAYING FOR LARRY. WHEN THEY WERE FINISHED, I
LEARNED MORE BASKETBALL FROM THAT GUY, BUT HEY, I HATED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. LARRY WAS A DRIVER.
I THOUGHT HE DID A WONDERFUL JOB. HIS FIRST TWO YEARS HERE, HE WAS IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE
FINALS, AND WE HAD NOT -- I THINK UP TO THAT POINT -- I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY -- I THINK WE -- YEAH, WE WON A FEW PLAYOFF
GAMES BEFORE THAT, BUT WE NEVER GOT PAST THE FIRST ROUND. SO IT WAS LIKE NOT PAST THE FIRST ROUND, BAM.
INSTANT EASTERN PLAYOFFS. AND WE COMPETED AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL. AND I THOUGHT THAT KIND OF BROKE
THE ICE FOR US. >> Bill Benner: AND THEN IN 1998, ANOTHER LARRY. LARRY BIRD FROM FRENCH LICK,
INDIANA, INDIANA STATE, BOSTON CELTICS CELTICS. YOU BROUGHT HIM IN AS COACH AND
THREE YEARS LATER, THE PACERS WERE IN THE NBA FINALS AGAINST THE LAKERS. LARRY BIRD WAS AN INSPIRED
DECISION. >> Donnie Walsh: WELL, I HAD MET WITH LARRY, AND I WAS SO IMPRESSED WITH HIS KNOWLEDGE OF
THE GAME, AND I MEAN FROM A COACHING STANDPOINT, WHAT HE WOULD DO. I MEAN, IT COVERED THE WHOLE
WATERFRONT. AND THE -- ONE THING HE SAID TO ME THAT I KNEW THIS GUY'S READY TO DO THIS, IS HE SAID, BY THE
WAY, DONNIE, I GOT TO GET TWO GOOD ASSISTANTS BECAUSE I'VE NEVER COACHED BEFORE. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS
THINKING, YOU KNOW, WAS HE NEED TWO GOOD ASSISTANTS TO HELP HIM WITH THIS. HE GOT RICK, WHO OBVIOUSLY
TURNED INTO A VERY GOOD COACH, AND DICK CARTER WHO I HAD BEFORE WITH JACK RAMSEY AND PROBABLY THE BEST DEFENSIVE COACH IN THE
LEAGUE. SO THAT COMBINATION OF THOSE GUYS KNOWING THEY HAD TO HELP LARRY, LARRY KNOWING HE NEEDED
TO THE HELP, AND LARRY'S PRESENCE AND KNOWLEDGE AS A HEAD COACH, I MEAN, THE PLAYERS LOVED IT, EVERYBODY THAT PLAYED ON
THAT TEAM I THINK REALLY ENJOYED THE EXPERIENCE. >> Bill Benner: WE GOT ABOUT A MINUTE LEFT, AND I KNOW THAT'S
HARD TO SUM UP. ALL OF THAT SUCCESS REALLY LED TO PROBABLY THE GROUND SWELL OF SUPPORT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF
CONSECO, NOW BANKERS LIFE FIELDHOUSE. YOU WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN MAKING SURE IT HAD THAT RETRO INDIANA
FEEL TO, AGAIN, A GREAT, GREAT BASKETBALL VENUE. >> Donnie Walsh: WELL, I DID, YEAH, I VOICED MY OPINION THAT
WE SHOULD DO A RETRO LOOK BECAUSE OF THE TRADITION OF BASKETBALL IN THIS STATE AND THIS COULD INCORPORATE ALL OF
IT. IT ENDED UP WITH THE ARCHITECTS COMING UP WITH EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT THEY COULD DO.
I THINK IT MADE IT VERY, VERY DIFFERENT IN THE LEAGUE, AND IT OPENED UP TO ACCOLADES IN THE LEAGUE.
EVERYBODY LOVED PLAYING HERE. EVERYBODY LOVED THE AMBIANCE OF THE ARENA AND THE WAY IT WAS BUILT BECAUSE THE MINUTE YOU GO
RIGHT DOWN TO THE FLOOR IN THE END ZONES RATHER THAN HAVE A HOCKEY SITUATION, YOU'RE ALL -- IT'S A VERY INTIMATE CROWD.
THAT'S THE WAY IT TURNED OUT. WHEN THAT HAPPENED, THEN WE WERE BRINGING IN A LOT OF PEOPLE. INDIANA BECAME A VERY, VERY
TOUGH PLACE TO GET WINS. THAT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED. WE HAD A LOT OF EXCITEMENT FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE CITY, AND WE
HAD GREAT FANS. IT WAS A WIN-WIN FOR EVERYBODY. >> Bill Benner: DONNIE, AGAIN, YOU'RE AN ICON.
YOU'VE HAD SUCH A LASTING IMPRINT ON THE PACERS FRANCHISE AND ON THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS. GLAD YOU DECIDED TO COME AND
JOIN US AND BE A HOOSIERS. WE WISH YOU NOTHING BUT THE BEST GOING FORWARD. >> Donnie Walsh: THANK YOU FOR
HAVING ME, BILL.