History will be created on October 4 and 5 as the popular NBA league is coming to India for the first time ever in the history of the sport. Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings will go loggerheads twice at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.
Indiana Pacers have always lived up to the crowd expectations and have been the breeding ground of prodigy talents like Reggie Miller and Paul George.
On that note, let’s reveal some intriguing facts about the Indiana pacers that made them one of the most successful franchises of all time:-
Origin story
The franchise was named “Pacers” after different pace cars were used for Indianapolis 500, the oldest automobile race.
Since the race is held in Indianapolis, United States, the team was named “Indiana Pacers”.
Intriguing facts about Indiana Pacers
Pacers legend Reggie Miller once dropped 8 points in just 9sec against the New York Knicks back in 1995.
Miller is the most successful franchise player in points, steals, tally, total games, and field goals. After his retirement, his jersey #31 was also retired in the honour of the player and the contribution he made to the game.
ABA-NBA collaboration
There a total of ABA teams that joined NBA till date, they are Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers. Indiana the ABA league team joined NBA in 1976.
Boomer the Mascot
The mascot of the Indiana Pacers is an energetic cat known as Boomer. The mascot is also referred to as the “Pacers Panther”, he wears a #00 Pacers jersey entertaining the crowd with high-flying dunks and cool dance numbers.
First Finals
The Indiana Pacers made their first NBA finals appearance in the year 2000 where they lost to Kobe and Shaq in six games.
NBA: 10 Things you need to know about the Indiana Pacers
Herbert Simon- The owner
Herbert Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers is the son of a tailor who hailed from Europe but shifted to the USA later on. Sam Nassi and Frank Mariani sold the franchise to Simon in 1983.
A real estate developer, Simon(along with his brother Mel) bought the franchise in 1983 from Sam Nassi and Frank Mariani. The team is currently worth over $1.5billion.
Official home
Bankers Life Fieldhouse became the official home to Indiana Pacers in 1999, which cost over $250 Million.
All-Star heroes
The current squad includes the 2017 rookie of the year Malcolm Brogdon and Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, reigning NBA blocks leader Myles Turner making them a team to reckon.
McMillian- The head coach
Nate McMillian was made the assistant coach in 2013 but was promoted to head coach in 2016. He was also the assistant coach under the legendary Mike Krzyzewski during USA’s 2012 Summer Olympics campaign
Hall of fame
9 players are mentioned in the hall of fame that includes the likes of Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, and George McGinnis. The team has managed to win 9 division titles and one conference title as well.
