Larry Bird stepping down as president of Pacers

— -- Larry Bird is stepping down as president of the Indiana Pacers, The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears has confirmed. General manager Kevin Pritchard will take over the team.

The news was first reported by The Vertical.

Among Bird's biggest accomplishments with the team was drafting Danny Granger in 2005 and Paul George in 2010. The team also selected Kawhi Leonard in 2011 but traded his draft rights to the Spurs for George Hill.

A reason for Bird's departure has not been confirmed, but sources told ESPN's Mike Wells that the plan had always been for Bird to strongly suggest to owner Herb Simon that Pritchard take over as president when Bird eventually stepped down. Bird's preference over the years has been to have year-to-year contracts.

Bird, 60, became head coach of the Pacers in 1997, winning Coach of the Year his first season. He resigned as head coach in 2000, but rejoined the team in 2003 as president of basketball operations. He won NBA Executive of the Year after the 2011-12 season, after the Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, losing to the Miami Heat in six games. He retired in 2012 but took only a year off. He came back to the team as president of basketball operations.

The Pacers have announced that Bird is scheduled to have an end-of-season news conference on Monday.?

He is the only person in NBA history to be named MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year.