David Craig

David Benner

Dave Twardzik summed it up best. "If you didn't like George Irvine, something was wrong with you," said Twardzik, one of George's best friends who worked with him from 1986-89 with the Pacers. "The word great is thrown around too frequently, but in George's case, it fits. He was just a great guy."

Irvine, a former Pacers' head coach from 1984-86 and on an interim basis in 1988, passed away Monday night at the age of 69. While with the Pacers, he also served as an assistant coach and an assistant to then General Manager/President Donnie Walsh. Later in his career, Irvine would coach the Detroit Pistons.

And Walsh is well aware of George's impact on him. When Irvine was named Pacers' head coach in 1984, he hired Walsh to be an assistant. In 1986, Walsh became general manager and, as they say, the rest is history.

"George Irvine brought me to Indiana and in my mind he was the beginning of NBA basketball with the Pacers in our building process for the years to come," said Walsh. "He had a great basketball mind, which allowed him to function at a high level as a coach, administrator and purveyor of talent. George was a once-in-a-lifetime friend and one of the best men in my life."

When Irvine was head coach, his teams struggled to a .293 winning percentage. But the fact, according to another team executive at the time, was "You've got a good coach, you've got good guys, unfortunately you have a lot of young players."

One of those young players was a promising forward out of Ohio State, Clark Kellogg. When Irvine became the head coach, Clark's career was coming to an end due to a knee injury.

"I enjoyed him from the standpoint that he was knowledgeable and fun to be around," said Kellogg. "He had a good sense of humor, he was a good teacher, but I enjoyed his personality. I was young, cutting my teeth in the NBA and I never got a chance to be healthy and play for him at my best because of my knee. He was quick with a story, and he had plenty of them, and he was quick with a laugh."

Another young player was Jerry Sichting. He and George found common ground when Irvine was an assistant coach.

"George was an assistant coach when I was a rookie and he gave me a lot of insight," said Sichting. "There weren't four, five assistants like now, so he was basically the only guy. He let me know what to expect. The game was different back then and you had to make your mark as a rookie. He had gone through a lot of the same things as a player in the ABA and took the time to relate those things to me. He loved basketball, he was a very knowledgable coach. We weren't great back then, but he stayed positive. He knew we weren't going to win the NBA championship, so he tried to develop us, he looked at himself as a teacher, made it fun and kept it fun."

"I thoroughly enjoyed him," said David Craig, the Pacers' long-time trainer. "George cared about all  the people who worked with him. He really cared about his players. We struggled a lot those years from a win-loss situation but he always stayed upbeat, kept his sense of humor and had consideration for all those involved. He was a very strong influence on my life. He was just a down to earth, great guy to be around."

remembering-george-irvine

Remembering George Irvine

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David Craig, LAT ATC, longtime Head Athletic Trainer for the NBA Indiana Pacers and Director of Athletics for High Performance Breathing Technology, LLC will be inducted into the 2016 National Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame.

David graduated from Purdue University working under the legendary William "Pinky" Newell. After working summer camps with the NFL's Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, David spent the next 35 years as the Head Athletic Trainer for the NBA Indiana Pacers. During his time with the Pacers, David was part of two ABA championship teams.

"I am excited to be recognized by my colleagues and inducted into the prestigious NATA - National Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame," stated Craig. "I want to thank my family and friends who have made it possible for me to practice as an athletic trainer for 45 years. Special thanks go out to the Indiana Pacers where I was the head athletic trainer for over 35 years. It has been an enjoyable career and I still enjoy being an athletic trainer."

"We champion the outstanding contributions of David and his constant commitment and passion for the athletic training profession," says Chuck Kimmel, ATC, NATA Honors & Awards Committee Chair. "We recognize and celebrate him as a member of the tremendous class of 2016 and all he has done to support NATA, its wide reaching programs and the members it represents."

David was the first president of the Indiana Athletic Trainers' Association and in 1993 won the organization's "Professional Clinician/Athletic Trainer of the Year" Award. In 1995, he was inducted into the IATA Hall of Fame. He served as the athletic trainer for the Eastern Conference in the 1985 and 1996 NBA All-Star Games. In 2001, he won the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award from the National Athletic Trainers' Association. In 2003, he was named the recipient of the Joe O'Toole NBA Athletic Trainer of the Year Award and served as the athletic trainer for the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo.

David received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Purdue University. In 2004, he served as one of the athletic trainers for the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team in Greece and continues to work with several USOC teams. David was also honored as a distinguished "Sagamore of the Wabash" by the Governor of Indiana.

David serves as Director of Athletics for High Performance Breathing Technology, LLC - "The Oxygen Advantage"© and as athletic trainer for many USOC teams, collegiate and professional athletes as well as the general public.

David Craig

Remembering George Irvine

Former Pacers Trainer David Craig Bound for Hall of Fame