Indianapolis ? Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas shook hands on their first day as boss and coach. Neither smiled.

Bird, hired as the Indiana Pacers’ president of basketball operations Friday, said he looked forward to working with Thomas, who succeeded Bird as coach three years ago.

The contentious rivals from their days leading the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons to NBA titles said their focus was on doing the same for the Pacers.

“We’ve not sat down yet,” Bird said. “Hopefully we’re on the same page.”

Bird was the NBA’s coach of the year in 1998 and left the Pacers when his three-year contract ended. He guided the team to its only appearance in the league finals in 2000.

Bird will take over day-to-day decision-making from Donnie Walsh, who has led the franchise since 1986 and will stay on as chief executive.

Bird gave another explanation for walking away from the Pacers’ front-office job offer three years ago: an irregular heartbeat that left him exhausted.

It took a year for the medication to control his heart problem. With his energy back, he was ready to return to the game and his home state, where he first made his mark in basketball in the small southern Indiana town of French Lick.

The Hall of Famer, who won three NBA titles with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s, became more interested in returning to the NBA when the league decided to put an expansion team in Charlotte.

Bird joined a group that sought the franchise, but the team was awarded to billionaire Robert Johnson in December.

He then started talking with other teams about front-office jobs before Walsh called. Bird smiled when asked whether he’d given up on becoming an NBA owner, recalling a conversation with Pacers owners Herb and Mel Simon.

“I asked the Simons five, six years ago if they wanted to sell and they wouldn’t do it, so I doubt if it is in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Walsh said he would fulfill the remaining four years on his contract with the Pacers and that he expected Bird to replace him.

“I’m glad to have him back in Indiana where he belongs,” Walsh said. “This will be a new era of Pacer basketball.”

Bird’s job includes making player and coaching decisions and taking charge of scouting. His relationship with Thomas will be closely watched.

Bird returns to a team that bears little resemblance to the veteran roster he coached to a 147-67 record, the best three-year stint in team history.