The Indiana Pacers and Their Franchise History

The Indiana Pacers is the team that represents the city and the state that is popularly known for the Indy 500, Indianapolis, Indiana. The Indiana Pacers have been a part of the professional basketball scene since 1967 but joined the NBA in 1976 after the ABA folded. The Indiana Pacers first began their professional ball-playing stint with a slot in the ABA or the American Basketball Association. The owners of the team in those days bought the franchise from the alternative league to the NBA, the ABA, to get the team to play and the Indiana Pacers soon played their inaugural game in the 1967-68 season.

The team is based in Indianapolis, which brings up the question about why the team is called Indiana Pacers and not the Indianapolis Pacers. The owners of the Pacers already decided on the name "Pacers" to feature the two things that made Indianapolis famous; the harness racing pacers and the Indy 500 which has a "pace" car at the beginning of the race. When faced with a choice of either Indiana or Indianapolis for the team to use as part of the name, the decision was Indiana to have the team represent the whole State and not just the city it was based in.

The Indiana Pacers have been a pretty consistent team from the time it started playing in the ABA and up until its late years in the NBA. The team has had 3 ABA and 4 NBA Division titles to its name, 5 ABA and 1 NBA Conference Championship wins and 3 ABA Championships but no NBA titles yet. The Indiana Pacers recently played what they consider their worst season in the 2006-2007 Season and hopes to do better in the coming NBA season with a few notable changes in the team's lineup and coaching staff.