As many may have been looking ahead to the weekend or talking about the first night of the 2017 NFL Draft, news broke at 12:29 pm ET that Larry Bird had decided to step away from his duties as the Pacers President of Basketball Operations.

General Manager Kevin Pritchard, who first joined the franchise in 2011, will now take on those responsibilities, a league source confirmed to VigilantSports.com.

In what became an emergency podcast, I shared my thoughts on what went down and how it might impact the organization.

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on iTunes.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* Why Larry Bird’s decision wasn’t surprising.

* Had Bird’s voice become stale?

* Pacers plan of succession.

* Kevin Pritchard rising through the ranks.