Buffaloes manager Okada's status up in air for 2013: team executive

Kobe — Akinobu Okada's days as manager of the Orix Buffaloes may be numbered, a team executive suggested on Friday. The skipper is in the final season of a three-year contract.

When questioned about next year's field management and coaching staff, an executive for the Pacific League's last-place club said, "That will have to wait until we have a talk with the manager."

On Tuesday, when it was learned that the team had yet to broach the subject of a new contract with the 54-year-old skipper, Okada said he would leave the decision up to the club. Okada had quit his job as Hanshin Tigers manager in 2009 after failing to advance in the playoffs for two straight seasons.

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Bird named NBA's top executive

NEW YORK — Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird was voted the NBA's Executive of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first person to win that award, plus the MVP and Coach of the Year honors.

Bird was a three-time MVP as a Boston Celtics player, then guided his home-state Pacers to a 147-67 record in three seasons and their only finals appearance in 2000. He was the Coach of the Year in 1998 following his first season.

He returned to the Pacers' front office in 2003 and became the full-time president in 2008 after Donnie Walsh left.

Bird said in a statement: "This is an honor for the Indiana Pacers, not an award for Larry Bird."

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