In the last 20 years, the Pacers have been lucky to have all-stars relatively consistently throughout that entire time. In total, they have had the following all-stars over the last 20 years:
- Tyrese Haliburton
- Domantas Sabonis
- Victor Oladipo
- Paul George
- Roy Hibbert
- Danny Granger
- Jermaine O’Neal
- Ron Artest
- Brad Miller
And so the question becomes, who is the greatest of all of these all-star players and how might we determine that? Well, you’ve come to the right place because that is exactly what we plan to do. The two metrics we will use to compare them will be frequency (how many times were they an all-star?) and height of their powers (how good were they at their best?) We will rate them on a scale from 1 to 6 for each metric, and the total is how we will rank them.
We then group them into multiple categories ranging from “Lucky to be here group” to “Good but not Legends” to the “Best of the Best”. Combined they constitute the entirety of the Pacers all-stars in the last 20 years.
9. Brad Miller 1x with Pacers, 2 of 6 for height of powers = 2 total score
Brad Miller was a good basketball player. That’s about all you can say about him. There is a good chance that many of you reading this post don’t even remember who he is or even what position he played. Brad Miller played two seasons in Indiana averaging the following numbers:
14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 53% FG
So nothing to necessarily write home about, given those are modest numbers in today’s NBA. In fact, those numbers would be considered a pretty good role player on most teams, but would really not be an all-star most years. Thus Brad Miller is at the bottom of this list.
8. Ron Artest 1x with Pacers, 3 of 6 for height of powers = 3 total score
Ron Artest could likely have ended up higher on this list if not for the Malice at the Palace derailing his entire Pacers career. Artest was an excellent player, averaging over 18 points per game in his best season with the Pacers. Artest was also an excellent defender winning the defensive player of the year in the 2003-04 season, all of this not to mention the air of toughness he brought to every Pacers game.
Had the incident in Detroit never occured, it is entirely possible that Artest continued his upward trajectory in his career as his numbers were consistently improving year over year. However, Artest would never make another all-star team and this would be his only appearance.
7. Danny Granger 1x with Pacers, 4 of 6 for height of powers = 4 total score
Is Danny Granger an underrated Pacers player? Yes.
Was Danny Granger better than we anyone will reasonably give him credit for? Yes.
Did Danny Granger ever live up to what he could have been? No.
Danny carried the franchise for years and for that we are eternally grateful. In 9 seasons with the Pacers Danny averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. Again, pretty good numbers all things considered. In his best season he averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, which is certainly a stellar year. This single season is an excellent pro for his “height of powers” but unfortunately Granger was not able to parlay it into becoming a perennial all-star.
6. Roy Hibbert 2x with Pacers, 2 out of 6 for height of powers = 4 total score
Another underappreciated all-star with the Pacers who anchored multiple defenses that reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Hibbert still might have my favorite Pacers block of all time against Carmelo Anthony.
Roy Hibbert had a three year stretch with the Pacers where he was arguably the best defensive big man in the league, making the 13-14 all-defensive team. However, the success was short lived and Hibbert quickly regressed to being out of the NBA after his 7 seasons with the Pacers. He was never a game-changing quantity, but he could be a game-saving quantity.
5. Tyrese Haliburton 1x for Pacers, 5 of 6 for height of powers = 5 total score
Tyrese Haliburton could easily find himself climbing this list in the next couple of years. He already has one of the higher “height of powers” scores, only behind a few players yet to come. Only time will tell if he can stack more all-star appearances together to become the greatest Pacers all-star in recent decades.
4. Victor Oladipo 2x for Pacers, 4 of 6 for height of powers = 8 total score
The first part of the Paul George trade that paid off, Vic played multiple seasons in Indy until injuries and questionable decisions on Vic’s part led to his time in Indiana becoming derailed. For about a year however, Oladipo owned the city of Indianapolis, something that few before or after have truly accomplished.
3. Domantas Sabonis 2x for Pacers, 4 of 6 for height of powers = 8 total score
I would have loved to keep Domas forever, but all good things must come to an end. While Sabonis was never a game-changing player for the Pacers, he certainly was deserving of multiple all-star appearances. We have given Domas the same “height of powers” score as other players such as Danny Granger and Victor Oladipo. However, what puts Domas over the edge is his ability to make and play on two all-star teams, something neither Granger or Oladipo accomplished.
2. Paul George 4x for Pacers, 6 of 6 for height of powers = 24 total score
Paul George is an amazing basketball player. One who will certainly line the hallowed walls of the Hall of Fame someday. And he became that player in a Pacers jersey. And had Paul George not requested a trade from the Pacers and stayed, he would have made many more all-star teams and would likely be topping this list, because he honestly might be the biggest talent the Pacers have had since Reggie (Paul might possibly even be a more talented player).
The only thing holding Paul George back on this list is that he only made 4 all-star teams in Indiana, while our top placeholder made a few more.
1. Jermaine O’Neal 6x for Pacers, 6 of 6 for height of powers = 36 total score
Who else would it have been? Given this is the post-Reggie era, Jermaine is certainly the best all-star the Pacers have had in the last 20 years. O’Neal made six all-star teams in his time with the Pacers, and likely would have made more barring the incident in Detroit that really derailed the Pacers franchise.
Additionally, at the “height of his powers” O’Neal was a perennial all-star and made 3 all-NBA teams. He was a dominant force that should have led the Pacers to a championship along with Reggie and Artest.
An overview of all of the Pacers all-stars of the last 20 years and our scoring:
- Jermaine O’Neal: 6x frequency, 6 height of powers = 36 total
- Paul George: 4x frequency, 6 height of powers = 24 total
- Domantas Sabonis: 2x frequency, 4 height of powers = 8 total
- Victor Oladipo: 2x frequency, 4 height of powers = 8 total
- Tyrese Haliburton: 1x frequency, 5 height of powers = 5 total
- Roy Hibbert: 2x frequency, 2 height of powers = 4 total
- Danny Granger: 1x frequency, 4 height of powers = 4 total
- Ron Artest: 1x frequency, 3 height of powers = 3 total
- Brad Miller: 1x frequency, 2 height of powers = 2 total
And there it is ladies and gentleman, the 9 Pacers all-stars of the last 20 years ranked. What do you think? Did we get a few of them out of order? What would you change? Let us know in the comments below.