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Quick facts:

Founded:                  1967    
Arena:                    Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Owner:                    Herbert Simon
Division Championships:   6(1995,1999,2000,2004,2013,2014)
Conference Titles:        1(2000)
NBA Titles:               None
ABA Titles                3(1970,1971,1974)


Best Season:              2003-04 61-21 (.744)
Worst Season:             1982-83 20-52 (.244) 

Naming History:
When professional basketball came to Indianapolis in 1967, one of the key decisions would be what to call the new American Basketball Association franchise.

According to Indianapolis attorney, Richard D. 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 (investor Chuck Barnes was a horse racing enthusiast) and the pace car used for the running of the Indianapolis 500.

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.

Paul George

Stability:
The Pacers are the only former ABA team that has not relocated or changed their names. The Nets began as the New Jersey Americans, moved to New York and became the Nets, moved again to New Jersey, and finally back to the state of New York to become the Brooklyn Nets. The Spurs began in Dallas as the Chaparrals before moving to San Antonio. The Nuggets began in Kansas City as the Larks, but were relocated before the start of their first season and became the Denver Rockets. When the merger with the NBA was imminent they changed their name to the Nuggets. The Pacers have always been the Pacers and been located in Indianapolis.

Pacers Predecessors:
Before the ABA started the Pacers, Indiana and Indianapolis had a history of high level professional basketball. The NBL had several teams in Indiana that included the Anderson Packers in Anderson; the Fort Wayne General Electrics and Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in Fort Wayne; The Hammond/Whiting All Americans in Hammond; The Hammond Buccaneers also in Hammond; the Richmond King Clothiers in Richmond and the Indianapolis Kautskies

Of the early NBL teams only the Packers, Pistons and Kautskies seen any success. All three teams joined the NBA when it formed. The Packers lasted a couple of seasons before switching leagues and disbanding The Pistons joined the NBA and eventually moved to Detroit. The Kautskies too made the move to the NBA but folded after just one season playing as the Indianapolis Jets.

The NBA tried again in Indianapolis in 1949 when they created the Indianapolis Olympians but that team folded after just a few seasons.

The greatest player you never heard of:
Roger Brown is without a doubt the best ABA player that never played in the NBA. Brown was banned from ever playing in the NBA because someone introducted him to Jack Molinas - the gambler who had shaved points in college and the NBA. Brown was never accused of point shaving and his FBI file even exonerates him, but in one of the greatest injustices in NBA history, the league still banned Brown from ever playing.

Banned from the NBA, Brown joined the upstart ABA and the Indiana Pacers. Brown was the Pacers first star, averaging 20 points a game in his rookie season. Brown would average over 20 points a game for most his early Pacers career and help guide the team to its three ABA championships.

In Browns last season in the ABA he signed with the Memphis Sounds but was soon traded to the Utah Stars. With the Stars about to go defunct they waived Brown so that he could rejoin the Pacers.

At the end of the season the Pacers joined the NBA and Brown was not allowed to be on the team. The Pacers petitioned the league to reinstate Brown, but Commissioner Larry O'Brien refused and Brown's playing career came to an end.

In 1979 the NBA allowed Brown to become an assistant coach with the Pacers but that lasted only a season.

In 1997 Brown was unanimously selected to the ABA all-time team and in 2013 he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. Unfortinately, Brown had passed away due to Cancer in 1996 and not got to see any of these honors.

Reggie Miller

Pacemates:
In 1967 the Pacers founded one of the first dance squads in professional sports. Most college and high school athletics had cheerleaders, but very few had active dance squads. Now common place through out sports, the Pacers were the first professional basketball team to use a dance squad and became the first NBA team to use one when they joined the NBA in 1976.

Malace at the Palace:
On November 19, 2004, the Indiana Pacers were leading the Detroit Pistons 97-82 with 45 seconds left. The game was all but done. Pistons center Ben Wallace attempted a layup but was fouled from behind by Pacers forward Ron Artest. Wallace and Artest had a history together as the Pistons and Pacers were rivals. Wallace shoved Artest and the players needed to be seperated in a scrum that has been seen several times in the NBA which usually results in offsetting technical fouls, but this time things would be different.

Artest, who had a reputation of being a hothead, actually was relatively calm and went to the scorers table and laid down on it. This angered many Pistons fans who began throwing objects. One of the objects hit Artest and Artest rushed into the stands trying to grab the fan who threw the object. Artest actually grabbed the wrong fan.

Following Artest's charge into the stands, several Pacers teammates followed suit. This caused many of the Pistons fans to continue to throw objects and players and fans started to throw punches.

It took several Pacers players and law enforcement officials to eventually pull Artest from the stands, and as the Pacers tried to exit Pistons fans continued to throw objects at them.

The NBA handed down some of the stiffest punishments in league history. Artest was suspended a total of 86 games, and fined $5 million dollars. Pacers forward Stephen Jackson was suspended 30 games, Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal got 15 games, Pacers guard Anthony Johnson got a 5 game ban and Pacers guard Reggie Miller got a 1 game ban. Pistons center Ben Wallace was suspended 6 games, Pistons guard Chauncey Billups, and Forwards Derrick Coleman, and Elden Campbell were given 1 game bans. All players involved were fined.

Five Pacer players were also chared with assault; Artest, Jackson, O'Neal, Johnson and center David Harrison. All faced fines, 100 hours of community service and served 1 year of probation. Five fans were also charged with assault and given lifetime bans from attending Pistons home games.

The NBA also imposed new security guidelines on February 17, 2005, for all of its arenas. These new policies included a size limit of 24 US fl oz (710 ml) for alcohol purchases, a hard cap of two alcoholic beverages per purchase for any individual person, and the discontinuation of alcohol sales after the end of the third quarter. The NBA also later ordered that each team put at least three security guards between the players and the fans.

The NBA did not punish the teams or the officials for the incident. The three referees worked games the next night, though one of the officials Tim Donahgy eventually would face other legal issues related to gambling.

Lowest Number Combo:
On January 8, 2025, the Pacers had the lowest possible number combination in NBA history. The Pacers had 5 players on the court all wearing numbers less than 3.

The Pacers had #00 Bennedict Mathurin, #0 Tyrese Haliburton, #1 Obi Toppin, #2 Andrew Nembhard, and #3 Thomas Bryant. The Pacers won the game against the Chicago Bulls 129-113.

The Greatest Teams To Never Win An NBA Title An often-debated topic among NBA circles is "Who is the greatest franchise in NBA history?". There are lots of very good teams to chose from. Could it be the team with the most NBA titles in 17, the Boston Celtics? Could it be the team with the most consistency in winning titles; the Los Angeles Lakers? Maybe it could be the most consistent team in terms of overall winning the San Antonio Spurs? The Warriors, Bulls, and 76ers also get honorable mentions. All these teams have one thing in common - multiple NBA titles. One thing not often discussed is who is the greatest NBA franchise who has never won a title? The list is actually quite short, as only eleven NBA teams have yet to win an NBA title. Five of those teams to never win a title are recent having just joined the NBA in the past 35 years. Six of the eleven teams have yet to even make an NBA-finals. Three of the four teams from the ABA have never won an NBA title, though the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets have both gotten close Complete Article

History of early professional basketball in Indiana Before the Indiana Pacers joined the ABA and eventually the NBA, the state of Indiana was the hot bed of professional basketball. From 1935 until 1953 the state hosted no less than 11 different teams in the major professional basketball leagues. Unfortunately, almost all of them would end and leave the state with no professional basketball teams for nearly two decades. Indiana is synonymy with the game of basketball. The University of Indiana is one of the most storied programs in all of college basketball winning 5 NCAA titles, but it was Purdue who would bring the state its first NCAA basketball title in 1932. Through out the early years of basketball a lot of fly by night leagues and teams called Indiana home, in fact Indiana even had its own semi-pro league of teams completely made up of teams in the Indianapolis region. It was not until 1935 when the Midwest Basketball Conference formed did the state of Indiana start seeing regular professional basketball at the highest levels and quality Complete Article

Jimmy Rayl against the Los Angeles Stars

Pacers guard Freddie Lewis scores in an ABA game against the Utah Stars Red Robbins.

Don Buse

James Edwards