INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Indiana Pacers assistant coach Johnny Davis says he will interview next week for the team’s vacant head coaching job.
Davis told The Associated Press on Saturday night a date has not been set, but that he will be given specifics on Monday.
Former coach Rick Carlisle said shortly after being fired that assistants Davis and Chuck Person were ready to replace him. Davis said the Pacers interviewed Person on Friday. A phone message left Saturday for Person was not immediately returned.
Pacers spokesman David Benner said the team would not comment on its coaching situation.
Davis compiled a 73-144 record in head coaching stops in Philadelphia and Orlando before coming to Indiana this season as Carlisle’s top assistant.
The Pacers hired Davis to help coach the up-tempo offense they pledged to run this past season. The team averaged 95.6 points per game, 1.7 more than the previous year, despite losing Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington in a midseason trade with Golden State.
Davis coached the Philadelphia 76ers during Allen Iverson’s rookie year and went 22-60, then 20-51 before being fired the next year. He went 31-33 with Orlando in 2004-05 before being fired there.
Person has been an assistant with the Pacers the last two years, but has no head coaching experience. He played his first six NBA seasons with the Pacers and was named NBA rookie of the year in 1986-87.
Former Miami coach Stan Van Gundy also has talked to the Pacers about the position, according to media reports. The Pacers reportedly want to talk to Chicago assistant Jim Boylan and have received permission to talk to Lakers assistant Brian Shaw.
Much of the coaching talk has circulated around Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell, another former Pacer. The NBA coach of the year likely would be a top candidate for several jobs if Toronto doesn’t keep him. Toronto president and general manager Bryan Colangelo has said he’s not discussing the situation publicly.
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