Indiana Pacers: 10 best point guards in franchise history

5. Jamaal Tinsley

Only 19 players in NBA history have recorded a five-by-five game, and Jamaal Tinsley is one of them. He recorded such a well-rounded performance in 2001 with Indiana, putting up 12 points, 9 rebounds, 15 assists, 5 blocks, and 6 assists. He’s the shortest player to ever record such a game.

Beyond this single-game accomplishment, Tinsley played for the Pacers for 7 seasons, making the All-Rookie team in 2002 with averages of 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game. Over the course of his career with Indiana, he would average 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game.

A key cog of competitive Pacers teams in the early 2000s, Tinsley was a regular starter in the backcourt for Indiana. His tenure with the Pacers would come to an end in large part due to injuries, and the team eventually waived him.

While Tinsley wasn’t right in the foreground when the Pacers went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004, he ranked sixth in win shares that year, and fifth in playoff win shares.

While Tinsley is bested statistically by some players that rank higher than him on this list, his influence on teams that competed deep in the playoffs ranks him higher all-time.

4. Vern Fleming

Vern Fleming is one of the best Pacers point guards in terms of longevity and counting stats, but struggled to lead the team to much success despite getting a bulk of the team’s backcourt starts in the mid-to-late 80s.

Fleming was better suited for a backup point guard role, where he excelled behind the likes of Mark Jackson on the tail-end of his career as the Pacers started to get competitive. The furthest Fleming would go in the playoffs with the Pacers was the Conference Finals.

At his peak, Fleming averaged 13.9 points and 7.1 assists in the 1988 season.

In his prime, Fleming was good for about 14 points and 7 assists. Fleming had virtually no outside shot which severely limited his game, though he played in an era in which that shot wasn’t valued much by team strategy.

Prior to being drafted by the Pacers in 1984, Fleming won a Gold Medal with the United States Olympic basketball team.