Pacers

The team is based in the state's capital and largest city, Indianapolis, Indiana, located in the center of the state. The Indiana Fever of the WNBA, also owned by Melvin & Herb Simon, are the Pacers' sister team and play at Conseco Fieldhouse as well.

The Indiana Pacers also have 2 mascots at every home game, Boomer and Bowser, who also appear often for the NBA .


Franchise history
ABA years: Dynasty


Classic Pacers Logo

In early 1967, a group of six investors (among them attorney Richard Tinkham, sports agent Chuck Barnes and Indianapolis Star sports writer Bob Collins) pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association.
According to Indianapolis attorney, Richard Tinkham, the nickname “Pacers” was decided on through a collective decision of the original investors. Tinkham, one of those investors, recalled that the nickname was a combination of the state’s rich history with the harness racing pacers and the pace car used for the running of the Indianapolis 500.

Investor Chuck Barnes was a horse racing enthusiast in addition to being business manager of Mario Andretti, A.J. Barnes' wife, Lois, suggested the name over dinner.
Tinkham said the “Pacers” decision was an easy one, but the real debate was whether the team should be called the Indiana Pacers or the Indianapolis Pacers.

Since one of the original ideas for the team was to have it playing throughout the state with its base in Indianapolis, the official team name became the Indiana Pacers.
For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, now called the Pepsi Coliseum. In 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they stayed for 25 years.
Early in the Pacers' second season, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob "Slick" Leonard became the team's head coach, replacing Larry Staverman.

His teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Jimmy Rayl, Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount and Roger Brown. The Pacers were the most successful team in ABA history, winning three ABA Championships in four years.10/21/2008 http:www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html
Struggling through the early NBA years
The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. For the 1976-77 season the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs of the ABA.

Financially, the Pacers were by far the weakest of the four ABA refugees. Indeed, they were on far weaker financial footing than the team acknowledged to be the last ABA team left out of the expansion, the Kentucky Colonels.

Although it has never been confirmed, it appeared the Pacers made the cut because Indianapolis was a far more lucrative television market than Louisville, home of the Colonels.
The Pacers' financial troubles dated back to their waning days in the ABA; they already begun selling off some of their star players in the last ABA season. They were further weakened by the price required to join the NBA.

The league charged a $3.2 million dollar entry fee to each former ABA team. As a result of the steep price they paid to join the NBA, the Pacers were in a dire financial situation.

It took a $100,000 contribution from a group of local businesses to keep the franchise going through June 1977. The team announced that unless season-ticket sales reached 8,000 by the end of July 1977, the club would be sold to someone who might take the franchise elsewhere.WTTV, which was the television flagship for Pacers' games at the time, offered to hold a 16.5 hour telethon to keep the team in Indiana. The telethon began on the night of July 3, 1977, and the next day, 10 minutes before the show was set to go off the air, it was announced that team officials had reached the 8,000-ticket goal.

In part because of the telethon, the Pacers' average attendance jumped from 7,615 during the 1976-77 season to 10,982 during the 1977-78 season. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley (who was averaging nearly 27 points per game at the time) was traded in December, while the Pacers' second-leading scorer, John Williamson, was dealt in January.
As a result of their poor performance, the Pacers needed to resort to publicity stunts to attract fans' attention.

The Pacers missed the playoffs in 1987-88, drafted Rik Smits in the 1988 NBA Draft, and suffered through a disastrous 1988-89 season in which coach Jack Ramsay stepped down following an 0-7 start. Reggie Miller became the first Pacer to play on the All-Star team since 1976 on the strength of his 24.6 points-per-game average.
1990-1992


Indiana Pacers logo 1990-2005.

In 1990-91, the Pacers returned to the playoffs with a 41-41 record, and Schrempf was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.

The Pacers had a memorable series against the highly favored Boston Celtics that they managed to extend to five games before losing Game 5, 124-121, with Larry Bird hosting one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. For the 1992-93 season, Detlef Schrempf moved from sixth man to the starter at small forward and was elected to his first All-Star game.

Miller also famously flashed the choke sign to Knick fans while leading the Pacers to the improbable come from behind victory. The Knicks ultimately came back to win the next two games and the series, but Reggie became an NBA superstar overnight.The team swept the Hawks in the first round, before another meeting with the rival Knicks in the conference semi-finals. Once again, it was up to Reggie Miller to provide some fireworks.

This time, with the Pacers down six points with 16.4 seconds remaining in game one, Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to help secure the two point victory. The Pacers ultimately dispatched the Knicks in seven games and pushed the Magic to seven games before falling in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Falling back
The Pacers duplicated their 52-30 record in 1995-96, but were hurt severely by an injury to Reggie Miller's eye socket in April, from which he was not able to return until Game 5 of their first-round series against the Hawks.

Reggie Miller and Rik Smits both made the All-Star team that year, and in the playoffs, the Pacers breezed past the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks before falling to the Chicago Bulls in an epic seven-game Eastern Conference Final.
1998-2000
In the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, the Pacers won the Central Division with a 33-17 record and swept the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers before falling to the New York Knicks in a six-game Eastern Conference Finals series. But in the Playoffs, after a 56-26 regular season, the Pacers survived the upset-minded Bucks in round one, handled the 76ers in the second round and finally broke through to the NBA Finals by virtue of a six-game East Finals victory over the New York Knicks.
Their first NBA Finals appearance was against the Los Angeles Lakers, who proved too much for them to handle as they ended Indiana's championship hopes in six games.

However, the Pacers dealt Los Angeles their worst playoff defeat up to that time by a margin of 33 points in Game Five.
Rebuilding
The offseason brought sweeping changes to the Pacers' lineup, as Rik Smits and coach Larry Bird retired, Chris Mullin returned to his old Golden State Warriors team, Mark Jackson signed a long-term contract with Toronto, and Dale Davis was traded to Portland for Jermaine O'Neal, who went on to average 12.9 points per game in his first year as a starter. Jermaine O'Neal made his first of what would be several All-Star appearances this year, erasing any doubt that trading the veteran workhorse, Dale Davis, to Portland for him was a good idea.
2002-03
The Pacers got off to a 13-2 start in 2002-03, but hit the wall after the All-Star break thanks in no small part to Ron Artest's multiple suspensions and family tragedies befalling Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley and Austin Croshere.

But the Detroit Pistons proved an impediment to Indiana's championship aspirations, as they defeated the Pacers in six games on their way to the NBA Championship.
2004-05
Al Harrington, a small forward who had established himself as one of the best sixth-men in the NBA, was dealt in the offseason to the Atlanta Hawks in return for Stephen Jackson after Harrington allegedly demanded that the Pacers start him or trade him.
The Brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills
Nevertheless, the Pacers started off the 2004-05 season in extremely strong fashion–until the infamous events of November 19, 2004.
Towards the end of a Pacers victory over the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pacers' Ron Artest committed a hard foul against Ben Wallace. Stephen Jackson followed him into the stands while Jermaine O'Neal struck a fan who came onto the court.Despite the difficulties with the suspensions and injuries, the Pacers earned a sixth seed in the playoffs with a record of 44-38. An important reason for their strong finish was the re-acquisition of Dale Davis, who had been released by New Orleans after being traded there by Golden State.

After losing game 1, the Pacers won the next two games to take a 2-1 lead. They also were the only road team to win Game 1 of a first-round playof series..

In Game 6 Anthony Johnson scored 40 points but the Pacers' season came to an end as the Nets won 96-90.
2006 Offseason--"Restoration" Project
The 2006 offseason saw big changes to the Pacers roster. The Pacers also drafted Roy Hibbert (Round 1, pick 17) after a trade with the Toronto Raptors involving Jermaine O'Neal.
2007 No selection; 1st Rd pick traded to Atlanta via sign and trade (Al Harrington)
2006 Shawne Williams (Round 1, pick 17); Alexander Johnson (Round 2, pick 45)
2005 Danny Granger § (Round 1, pick 17); Erazem Lorbek (Round 2, pick 46)
2004 David Harrison (Round 1, pick 29); Rashad Wright (Round 2, pick 60)
2003 James Jones (Round 2, pick 49)
2002 Fred Jones (Round 1, pick 14)
2001 Jamison Brewer (Round 2, pick 41)
2000 Primož Brezec (Round 1, pick 27); JaQuay Walls (Round 2, pick 56)
1999 Vonteego Cummings (Round 1, pick 26)
1998 Al Harrington (Round 1, pick 25)
1997 Austin Croshere (Round 1, pick 12)
1996 Erick Dampier (Round 1, pick 10); Mark Pope (Round 2, pick 52)
§ - Still with team
Coaches and others
Basketball Hall of Famers
Alex English (inducted primarily for his years with the Denver Nuggets)
Larry Bird (former coach and current President of Basketball Operations; enshrined as player with the Boston Celtics)
Larry Brown
Dr.