Lance Stephenson’s weird Pacers journey, so far…

8 years ago, Lance Stephenson joined the Indiana Pacers, thus beginning one of the oddest arraignments in the history of the Pacers franchise. Maybe no other Pacer has experienced the vast highs and lows as the brand new Laker did in blue and gold. But then again, there is only one Lance Stephenson.

When I think of Lance Stephenson’s career with the Indiana Pacers, I’m reminded of the random news stories where someone gives their cat away to a family who moves out to the hinterlands only to have the cat dutifully trudge, like an adorable Michael Myers, all the way back to the family home from whence he was sent. The mixture of rage, shock, and respect that must well up inside the father discovering that little beast of burden waiting for him on his doorstep, purring, tail twirling, mocking eyes gazing up at him, must be unrivaled in the annals of parenthood.

Like NBA players, pets given away rarely return, but every once in a while, there’s a special case. Lance Stephenson was one of those special cases. He’s gone for now (after signing with the Lakers this offseason), though it just seems impossible that that’s the end of his Pacers journey.

Lance is a paradox in Indiana sports in the Lanciest way possible, namely, Hoosiers normally (9 times out of ten? 19 out of 20? 99 out of 100?) don’t like players like Lance Stephenson. Draw up your standard ball-hog who gleefully pursues triple-doubles, but can’t shoot threes accurately, and who regularly does stunningly stupid things on the court, that guy nearly always draws the ire of Hoosiers. But people loved Lance Stephenson. Maybe it was because of the obvious joy he demonstrated, or that he always looked like he was playing hard. Maybe it was because the highlights were so enjoyable that they were worth the flubs, or maybe it was that he loved playing in Indiana. Whatever the reason, Lance fit with the Pacers, which is another weird coincidence. There’s a good chance that it never should’ve happened.

The Pacers-Lance connection was one of the oddest in the history of the Indiana Pacers franchise. There have been crazy journeys before. Reggie Harding was a supreme character in the ABA days. Mark Jackson was traded for, traded away and traded for again. But no other journey was as improbable as Lance Stephenson’s. We here at 8points9seconds have outlined Lance Stephenson’s wild ride through Indiana in six easy acts.

Act 1: The Ignominious Beginning

Lance Stephenson arrived in Indiana via the 40th pick in the 2010 draft after spending a lifetime as a high school legend in Brooklyn and one year as a pretty good starter at the University of Cincinnati. To the surprise of no one now, Lance made a much bigger impact off the floor (when he flashed a choke sign to the Miami Heat during a playoff game) than on it (where he averaged 2.6 points in 54 total games). Lance choked the Heat before he had much opportunity to do anything endearing, he wasn’t the loveable Lance yet. Fans wanted him gone. And Lance probably would’ve been gone (he had a nonguaranteed contract) if not for one man: Larry Bird. Bird saw something in him, so Lance stayed with the Indiana Pacers.

Act 2: A star turn

 The 2012-13 season dawned bleakly. Danny Granger was hurt and would remain hurt for most of the year. The Indiana Pacers first turned to the newly acquired Gerald Green to replace Granger, and Green was awful. He started the first three games and looked completely lost. The next batter up was Sam Young, who not only looked lost but also didn’t produce over his three starts (2 points, slash line of 42/0/50). In game seven the Pacers offered the starting gig to Lance Stephenson, who was by far the best of the three to begin the season statistically (Lance was a +4.5, Green -4.2, Young -5.2). The third time was a charm. Over the next 188 games Lance played splendidly (at times wildly), occasionally he looked like an all-star. Any way you slice it, Stephenson was a significant ingredient in the NBA’s best starting lineup.

But all was not good in Indiana. Some of Lance’s antics struck nerves with some of his teammates, namely Roy Hibbert. A Pacers team that was dominant to begin 2013-14 sputtered down the stretch before folding in the Conference finals. All too often the offense would stall when Lance ran a dribble exhibition at the point. Still, it was expected that Lance had a (more-or-less) permanent home as the Pacers starting shooting guard. Nope.

Act 3: Aimless Wanderer

With Stephenson’s contract up, Bird delivered a pointed recruiting pitch. The Indiana Pacers rented out a movie theater, played a film of Stephenson’s life through his time in Indiana, then offered him a 5 year/ $44M contract. Stephenson and his team balked, believing the contract underpaid him. Instead, Lance signed a 3 year/ $27M deal with the Charlotte Hornets. The third year was unguaranteed. Stephenson left a starting job on a Conference finalist, where his weaknesses (on both offense and defense) were masked by Paul George, David West, George Hill and Hibbert; to join the East’s seven-seed, with no one to balance him out, for less security, and $17M less guaranteed. In my estimation, and I’ve tried to find another example, it was the dumbest decision by a free agent in modern NBA history.

And it was disastrous for Lance. He was a massive disappointment in Charlotte, where the Hornets won ten fewer games than the year before. He was cast out of Charlotte at year’s end and sent off to LA, but didn’t last past a year with the Clippers either. He played well but found no home in Memphis soon after. His subsequent tryout with the Pelicans ended meekly, and it seemed like he was on his way out of the league.

Meanwhile, in Indiana, Lance’s departure came at a very bad time. That was the summer that Paul George snapped his leg. Without Lance, there was no fallback and the Pacers missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. It did, however, lead to Indiana selecting Myles Turner, which was a not a bad thing at all. So, to recap the timeline: Lance not liking the Pacers offer leads him to taking an objectively worse offer in Charlotte, Paul George breaks his league, Lance is awful in Charlotte, the Indiana Pacers struggle without George, both teams miss the playoffs, the Pacers select Myles Turner, the Hornets trade away Stephenson, two mostly listless seasons follow in Indiana, and Lance plays for six teams in three years.

Act 4: A fortuitous injury

 In the middle of the 2016-17 season, Lance Stephenson was a Minnesota Timberwolf. He was just beginning his second ten-day contract with the team, and while his numbers were less than savory, they really liked him. But the Timberwolves had a problem, Lance had just gotten hurt, his left ankle was the issue. Minnesota’s issue was greater, you can sign a player (like they did for Lance) to a second consecutive ten-day deal, but you can’t sign him to a third consecutive. If you want to keep your promising castoff, you must sign him for the rest of the year at the end of his second 10-day contract. But Lance was hurt. Do they sign him for the rest of the year, of which Lance would play little of it while on the mend, or do they let him go? To the Indiana Pacers benefit, they chose the latter.

Act 5: The rescue

In Indiana, the Pacers were struggling, meekly fading in the playoff race and needing a spark. In his last savvy move as president of basketball operations, Larry Bird called upon Lance Stephenson, who had since recovered from his ankle injury. While Indiana lost his first two games back (both notably on the road) they won their last five, securing a playoff spot and saving their season. It takes no great leap of the mind to connect the two. Lance lit a fire under the team.

In the playoffs, the Pacers were swept by Cleveland in the first round. The series was never a blowout (Indiana lost the four games by a combined 16 points). Lance averaged 16 ppg in the series. Lance was back.

Act 6: Departs again, this time on good terms

Lance Stephenson’s 2017-18 with the Indiana Pacers was largely successful. He was resigned to the second unit, but his chemistry with Domantas Sabonis was potent, and the Pacers were a winning team all season long. Stephenson became a cap casualty. To open up the most space possible, Lance’s non-guaranteed contract became expendable. There was a room exception that Kevin Pritchard assured Lance was his if he wanted it. But, a phone conversation from LeBron James swayed him to Hollywood. Par for the course, Lance will not get a raise by leaving the Pacers.

Lance’s departure looks to bode well, again, for Indiana. Tyreke Evans was signed to fill the role Lance once occupied, a significant upgrade in the playmaking and scoring departments. If Lance stayed, Evans might not have been able to be signed. If Lance stayed, and Evans signed, he would’ve assuredly seen his role reduced. In an irony befitting the key protagonist, Lance leaving, and the subsequent signing of Evans, probably made the Pacers better. Sounds about right. It’ll keep Indiana sailing well, and true, shipshape, just in case he returns home again.