Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers play in the state’s largest city, Indianapolis, and inspire fierce loyalty in their legions of local fans, as do the city’s only other top-tier sports team, the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. The team’s name is derived from the city’s connections to horse racing and car racing, most famously the annual Indy 500 automobile race, which has been running for well over a century. The Pacers joined the NBA in 1976 and struggled to make an impact, in part due to their financial limitations. By the end of the 1980s, they were perennial doormats who had only made the playoffs twice and never progressed past the First Round. The Pacers’ fortunes began to turn after they drafted Reggie Miller, who from 1990 onward led the team into serious playoff contention for the first time in their history. Not only did the Pacers reach the postseason in 16 out of the next 17 seasons but they also appeared in six Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers won only once, in 2000, reaching the franchise’s first and to this date only NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the high-powered Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Miller hung up his sneakers for good in 2005, having spent his entire 18-year career with the Indiana Pacers. After a few years rebuilding, the Pacers got back on track again as regulars in the playoffs, losing twice to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2013 and 2014. In recent years the team has struggled, missing the playoffs three years in a row, but with talents like Tyrese Haliburton, Bruce Brown, and Obi Toppin, fans will be eager to see their Pacers get back in the mix in 2023-24.