8. Mel Daniels, 1968-1974
Pacers scoring: 19.4 ppg, FG: 48.3%, 3P: 6.9%, FT: 67.9%
Mel Daniels was not an original Pacer, but he followed shortly thereafter.
One of the few players in franchise history who could make a legitimate claim for being the best Pacer of them all, Daniels was a tremendous force from the second he first put on a Pacers uniform until he took it off for the last time.
During his six years in Indiana, he led the Pacers in scoring three times and never finishing worse than third. Daniels accounted for 17 percent of Indiana’s offense, and delivered three championships to Indiana.
Daniels did his work on the inside, as the heart and emotional fire behind Indiana’s most successful teams. He made his impact in many more ways than scoring, but he was immensely effective depositing the orange into the basket. Daniels 19.4 points per game is the sixth highest in franchise history, while his 9,545 points are the ninth-highest.
Mel Daniels is one of the few Pacers on this list that saw his career thoroughly decorated with awards and honors. Daniels was a 7-time All-Star (in nine seasons), a Rookie of the Year, a 2-time MVP, 5-time all-ABA, and he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. The honor was well overdue. Mel Daniels, lived three more years after his Hall of Fame enshrinement, dying, in 2015, at age 71.