Myles Turner Is Stepping Up as a Leader… And He Isn’t Even 21 Years Old Yet
By Ben Gibson
Myles Turner is showing maturity as a player and a man this season for the Indiana Pacers, despite the fact he isn’t even 21 years-old yet.
A season ago, Myles Turner was on the receiving end of tongue-lashings when he made the wrong play. This season, he is the one handing them out.
More and more, Turner is speaking out on the floor when mistakes are made and in timeouts when the team needs to regroup. He is only 20 years-old, but just as he said before the season, he wants to be a leader.
He isn’t going to take over the team just yet, but it looks like he has the respect of his peers already despite many of them being established NBA veterans.
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Nuvo’s Jon Lafollette talked to Turner and coach Nate McMillan earlier in the week about Myles’ leadership after the young center took charge of the huddle during the win over the Brooklyn Nets.
"But Indiana got a sample of Turner’s leadership the day before during a 106-97 win over the Brooklyn Nets. The Pacers blew a 19-point third-quarter lead only to see the Nets rally to a two-point advantaged in fourth quarter. Indiana was on the ropes, unable to solve the worst team in the league.That’s when Turner spoke up. As coach Nate McMillan and his assistants discussed matters among themselves during a timeout, Turner prophesied to his teammates in convincing fashion. Indiana found its resolve to hang on for the win. What did Turner say?“I don’t know,” Turner said Saturday. “To be honest, I don’t remember.”Damn the faulted memory of youth.Although Turner can’t recall his court side TED Talk, McMillan is nonetheless glad it happened.“I think you have to be yourself,” McMillan said. “He’s a very spirited young man, and he brings that to the court. He brings that to the game. We’ve had that conversation. He shouldn’t be afraid to speak up, especially when you’re trying to lift up or motivate teammates. I was a captain my first year in the league, so even though you have veterans on the team and you’re saying stuff, if they know that it’s right, they’ll listen.”"
There are different ways to be a leader on a team. David West gave the Pacers attitude and showed them how to win. Others lead by example. I’m not sure where Paul George fits in here, and there is always rumblings about whether he is a leader or not, but I’m not going to speculate considering like most people, I am not in the locker room.
What I do know is Myles Turner is already working on becoming a vocal leader on this team. He is the future of the franchise, so his teammates better get used to it. None of this is to say this won’t be a work in progress, that he won’t make mistakes, but the fact he is comfortable enough to step up and speak out now says something.
He has earned the right as well. He still listens and is working to be better while already being one of the team’s leading scorers. He is settling into his role as the team’s rim protector and should be making sure his teammates make his job easier as well.
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Maturity is something that comes slowly, but Turner is already ahead of the curb. The man can’t even buy himself a beer yet, but he is already acting like a man that knows when to cut himself off.