| An Anniversary Forgotten Authored by Andrew Perna - November 21, 2008 - 3:19 pm
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No, the Pacers weren't victorious. They didn't even play, having beaten the Hawks on Tuesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse. Mike Dunleavy is still nursing a knee injury and there is more work to do on defense, but Nov. 19, 2008 was comfortingly quiet.
For the first time since 2004, the date Nov. 19 meant nothing to me and a majority of people who either play, work or cheer for the Pacers.
In fact, it wasn't until the calendar was turning to Thursday that it was even brought to my attention that four years ago the infamous 'Malice at the Palace' altered the course of Indiana's path.
Of course, it was ESPN that brought the events of that fateful night back into the limelight, but anyone with ties to the Pacers knows that the anniversary was the last thing on the minds of many in Indiana.
Before I go any further, let me clear the air a little bit. I am in no way affiliated with the Pacers, other than that I have spent the last three-plus years covering them for RealGM. I am not a member of Indiana's public relations department, and Larry Bird has not paid me a sizable sum of money to spin attention away from the team's troubles.
The departure of Jermaine O'Neal and David Harrison this offseason, the final two players directly involved in the basketbrawl, may have had something to do with it, but there were certainly other factors in the equation.
I don't think it's a coincidence that Indiana has yet to play on Nov. 19 since 2004, when they traveled to Detroit to face the then-rival Pistons.
The Pacers' current roster is a rather clean one, with Marquis Daniels being the only one with somewhat of a spotted record in the NBA. Of course, as surprising as it may be, Jamaal Tinsley is still "on" the roster. Luckily, he's just as much of a member of the team as I am – perhaps even less.
Numerous transactions, almost too many to count, have taken place since that night. At the time it was a shock to the system of many because of the stability the team enjoyed prior, but forty-eight months later the roster has already been shuffled many times over.
Danny Granger, the team's new face, appears more like to hug a fan than punch one.
Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy, who were obtained in the trade that sent Stephen Jackson to Golden State, are more content handing out Thanksgiving dinners than getting images of a smoking guns tattooed on their bodies.
None of those three were in Indiana when it all went down.
Nov. 19, 2004 is a memory that a majority of basketball fans, not just those of the Pacers or Pistons, would prefer to forget. Unfortunately, Will Smith wasn't able to take those little memory-erasers from the set of Men In Black.
Luckily, a promising young roster filled with likable, clean personalities has helped many naturally forget how the Pacers entered into a situation where they needed to trade guys like Ron Artest (can you believe this is the first time I mentioned his name?), Jackson and O'Neal in roughly three year's time.
A tradition of winning and success deep into May is still off in the distance for the Pacers, but at the least the memory of professional basketball's most embarrassing moment is distant as well.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail – Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. |
