Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1967 as an original member of the American Basketball Association and became a member of the NBA in 1976 as a result of the ABA–NBA merger. They play their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The team is named after the state of Indiana's history with the Indianapolis 500's pace cars and with the harness racing industry.
The Pacers have won three championships, in 1970, 1972, and 1973, all in the ABA. They also reached the ABA Finals in 1969 and 1975, and have also appeared in the NBA Finals in 2000 and 2025. The team has also won nine division titles.
Six Hall of Fame players – Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, and George McGinnis – played with the Pacers for multiple seasons. The franchise has multiple Hall of Fame coaches in Bobby "Slick" Leonard, Jack Ramsay, and Larry Brown. Furthermore, former Pacers inducted into international Halls of Fame include Miller and Detlef Schrempf in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
History
1967–1976: ABA dynasty
In early 1967, a group of six investors pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association.For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, although they did play select playoff games in various places, such as Anderson High School Wigwam for four playoff games. and even Assembly Hall for two playoff games. In 1974, they moved to the new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they played 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. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut. His teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount, Freddie Lewis and Roger Brown. The Pacers were the most successful team in ABA history, winning three ABA Championships in four years. In all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the league's nine-year history, which was an ABA record.
1976–1987: Early NBA struggles
The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger in the 1976–77 season, along with the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs.The league charged a $3.2 million entry fee for each former ABA team. Since the NBA would only agree to accept four ABA teams in the merger, the surviving ABA teams also had to compensate the two remaining ABA franchises which were not a part of the merger, the Spirits of St. Louis and Kentucky Colonels. As a result of the merger, the four teams dealt with financial troubles. Additionally, the Pacers had some financial troubles, which dated back to their waning days in the ABA; they had begun selling off some of their star players in the last ABA season. The new NBA teams also were barred from sharing in national TV revenues for four years.
The Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36–46. Billy Knight and Don Buse represented Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game. However, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers' first 13 years in the NBA. During this time, they had only two non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances.
A lack of continuity became the norm for most of the next decade, as they traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977–78 season even started. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley was traded in December, while the Pacers' second-leading scorer, John Williamson, was dealt in January.
The early Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history. In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis. McGinnis was long past his prime and contributed very little during his two-year return. English, in contrast, went on to become one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. The next year, they traded a 1984 draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Tom Owens, who had played for the Pacers during their last ABA season. Owens played one year for the Pacers with little impact and was out of the league altogether a year later. In 1983–84, the Pacers finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, which would have given the Pacers the second overall pick in the draft – the pick that the Blazers used to select Sam Bowie, while Michael Jordan was still available. As a result of the Owens trade, they were left as bystanders in the midst of one of the deepest drafts in NBA history – including such future stars as Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton.
Clark Kellogg was drafted by the Pacers in the 1982 and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, but the Pacers finished the 1982–83 season with their all-time worst record of 20–62 and won only 26 games the following season. After winning 22 games in 1984–85 and 26 games in 1985–86, Jack Ramsay replaced George Irvine as coach and led the Pacers to a 41–41 record in 1986–87 and their second playoff appearance as an NBA team. Chuck Person, nicknamed "The Rifleman" for his renowned long-range shooting, led the team in scoring as a rookie and won NBA Rookie of the Year honors. Their first playoff win in NBA franchise history was earned in game 3 of their first-round, best-of-five series against the Atlanta Hawks, but it was their only victory in that series, as the Hawks defeated them in four games.
1987–2005: The Reggie Miller era
from UCLA was drafted by the Pacers in 1987, beginning his career as a backup to John Long. Many fans at the time disagreed with Miller's selection over Indiana Hoosiers' standout Steve Alford. 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. Mel Daniels and George Irvine filled in on an interim basis before Dick Versace took over the 6–23 team on the way to a 28–54 finish. In February 1989, the team traded veteran center Herb Williams to the Dallas Mavericks for future NBA Sixth Man-of-the Year Detlef Schrempf.From 1989 to 1993, the Pacers would play at or near.500 and qualify for the playoffs; in 1989–90, the Pacers parlayed a fast start into the team's third playoff appearance under coach Bob Hill. But the Pacers were swept by the Detroit Pistons, who would go on to win their second consecutive NBA championship. Reggie Miller became the first Pacer to play in the All-Star Game since 1976 on the strength of his 24.6 points-per-game average. Despite four straight first-round exits, this period was highlighted by a first-round series with the Boston Celtics in the 1991 playoffs that went to game 5. The next season, the Pacers returned to the playoffs in 1992 and met the Boston Celtics for the second year in a row. This time, the Celtics swept the Pacers in three games. Chuck Person and point guard Micheal Williams were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the off-season, and the Pacers got Pooh Richardson and Sam Mitchell in return. 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. Meanwhile, Miller became the Pacers' all-time NBA era leading scorer during this season. The Pacers returned to the playoffs with a 41–41 record, but lost to the New York Knicks in the first round, three games to one.
1994–1997: Larry Brown era
was brought aboard as Pacers' coach for the 1993–94 season, and Pacers' general manager Donnie Walsh completed a then highly criticized trade as he sent Schrempf to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Derrick McKey and little known Gerald Paddio. But the Pacers won their last eight games of the season to finish with an NBA-era franchise-high 47 wins. They stormed past Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic in a first-round sweep to earn their first NBA playoff series win, and pulled off an upset by defeating the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the conference semifinals.Back-to-back Eastern Conference finals appearances
With the 1994 Eastern Conference finals tied going into game 5 in New York, and the Pacers trailing the Knicks by 15 points early in the fourth quarter, Reggie Miller scored 25 points, which included five 3-point field goals. Miller also flashed the choke sign to the Knicks' celebrity fan, Spike Lee, while leading the Pacers to the come from behind victory. The Knicks ultimately came back to win the next two games and the series. Miller was a tri-captain and leading scorer of the USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship.Mark Jackson joined the team in an off-season trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, giving the team a steady hand at the point guard position that had been lacking in recent years. The Pacers enjoyed a 52–30 campaign in 1994–95, giving them their first Central Division title and first 50+ win season since the ABA days. The team swept the Hawks in the first round of the 1995 NBA playoffs, before another meeting with the rival Knicks in the conference semifinals. This time, with the Pacers down six points with 16.4 seconds remaining in game 1, Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to help secure a two-point victory. The Pacers beat the Knicks in seven games. They pushed the Orlando Magic to seven games before falling in the Eastern Conference finals.