MEMORIES OF TIMOTHY GASSEN: "I lived much of my teenage years in the mid- to late-1970's at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, most often at the very top of the arena with friends, banners and noise-makers in support of our WHA Indianapolis Racers major league hockey team.
We followed the ABA Pacers in a round-about way – when the Racers were on the road, we'd go to Pacers games and sit near the court. It was the opposite of our normal view of MSA from the rafters, and it allowed us to see the fast-breaking ABA style up-close: really short shorts, really big hair and really fast action! I loved the fast pace of ABA games, and my absolute favorite visiting team was The Nets with Dr. J. Besides being perhaps the greatest ABA player of all time, as a 14 year-old I remember thinking he had the greatest afro haircut of all time! He would leap for a dunk and his hair was so large that it would smash down and cover his entire face as he moved upward, and then as he returned to Earth it would fly straight over his head like puppy ears. His graceful, powerful style and acrobatic dunks were simply unforgettable. And as an opposing player you know he had to be good to make such a lasting impression on a hometown teenage fan!
I'll also never forget the 1975 ABA Finals game against the Kentucky Colonels where a last-second heave seemed to win the game for the Pacers – only to be overturned by the refs. Video replays showed the shot was good before the clock ran out, but the game was lost. Such emotion, from elation to utter despair, all in one second. The Pacers didn't recover from that, but the team did make it to the NBA in the merger. Interestingly, many fans were disappointed with the more conservative style of the NBA, and my beloved hockey Racers actually out-drew the NBA Pacers at the gate in 1976-1977. Of course it's great that The Pacers have survived to today, but I don't know how they will ever top their championship ABA years, that wonderful red, white & blue basketball, and the positive vibe at Market Square Arena. Long live the memory of the American Basketball Association!"
MEMORIES OF DARRIN COOK: "I am at the age where I can just barely remember a few Pacers games that my father took me to. But what great memories I still have of them. Growing up in Kokomo, Indiana, basketball tradition is strong, as it is throughout the rest of the state. But it was a real treat to go to a Pacers game. My dad would typically not tell me about the game until that morning when he would say, "Do you have any plans tonight? Well, I got these tickets and if you want to go see a Pacer game... " He never got to finish that sentence. I was always jumping around and acting like a typical kid. We always left early so we could stop at White Castle and grab a few burgers before the game. White Castles were only located in Indy. Then when we arrived at MSA, you noticed the size of it and the smell of the popcorn when you walked in the door. You could hear the noise starting to build as you walked around the outer concourse, looking for your aisle number. The pre-game warmups were awesome, the crowed was usually going nuts before the game even started. Watching "Slick" Leonard walk to the bench with those trade mark pants, Dancing Harry during the time out breaks, the Pace Mates, Leo Sayer singing Long Tall Glasses, and of course Dr. Dunk, I could not ever sell these memories or replace them. After the game my dad and I would stop by Steak & Shake for a quick snack before driving back home. I only hope I can pass along half of the great memories to my boys as my dad passed on to me. Talk about priceless."
MEMORIES OF SHERRY MASON: "I was a kid when it started, and I live in Indiana. I honestly didn't know there was a difference between the ABA and the NBA until years later. We had no NBA team, and when the Pacers started, we were all agog. We thought it was just like the American League and the National Legaue in major league baseball. My brothers went to Slick's basketball camp, we cheered for the Pacers, and - guess what - we still do.
Slick is a treasure in Indiana, now and always. I watch the games with the radio sound on so I can hear him. We all went through the Reggie Miller years and were on cloud nine. But none of that could have happened without the ABA getting us started.
I also didn't realize until looking into it how boring the NBA was before the ABA woke them up - infrequent dunks, no threes??? Why would you watch?"
MEMORIES OF TOM McDANNIEL: "Many of the things I remember about the ABA Pacers have already been written about by other fans, so I will not repeat them. One thing I do not think has been fully explained is Darnell Hillman's jumping ability. The announcers used to claim that if a dollar bill were placed on top of the backboard, Darnell could retrieve it. I believe it. He could really sky.
The other things I want to mention are memories of Big Mac. I remember the way he would go up and snatch rebounds with one huge hand, sort of like an eagle grabbing prey in one claw. The other thing I remember about Big Mac occurred in a playoff game. I think it was played in Denver. George was lead man on a fast break and tomahawk-slammed the ball... oh, and he bent the rim with his wrist when he did it. He didn't hang on the rim and use his weight like every other bent rim or broken backboard you have ever seen. It was pure power. It is too bad that Big Mac developed knee problems at a young playing age. Otherwise he would have been a dominant player in the NBA as well."
MEMORIES OF BOB PASWATER: "I started going to tIndiana Pacers ABA games from the first season in 1967. Perhaps my favorite memory of all those years is from a game between the Pacers and the Utah Stars. Ron Boone was a very strong 6-2 player on Utah, and for some reason had the unhappy task of guarding George McGinnis. Throughout the game Boone kept elbowing McGinnis. I was on the first row and watched closely and Boone would poke him in the ribs over and over again. McGinnis was yelling at him to stop and yelling at the refs that he was getting fouled, but nothing was called.
I don't remember the exact quarter, but after quite a while of this, McGinnis had enough. Boone was guarding McGinnis near the free throw line and elbowed him in the ribs again. Boone was at least 220 pounds of muscle. But McGinnis turned around and grabbed Boone's shirt with one hand and threw him under the basket, a toss of 10-12 feet. Boone landed out of bounds with a thud and of course McGinnis was called for a foul. But Boone never elbowed him again during the rest of that game! McGinnis was one of the strongest players to ever play the game."
MEMORIES OF MICHAEL McMASTER: "I grew up on 44th and Primrose, two blocks from where the Pacers played. At that time, Indiana was the mecca for high school basketball and I think that made it easy for the Pacers to quickly amass a loyal following. My fondest memories were of listening to the games at night and living the visions portrayed on the radio. However when we could afford to get in a game, it was an experience only found during playoff games in today's NBA. We would just shake the roof off the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. The cheering and stomping our feet, especially stomping, made it impossible to hear anything else. This would be typical of any regular season game. We watched George McGinnis go from high school phemom, to college, and to the Pacers. It was that kind of thing that made the Pacers more than just a franchise, it was part of our hometown basketball family. I cherish the memories of all of those players. Mel Daniels was Da Man!"
