The Indiana Pacers have never won a championship, but one era stands above the rest when it comes to competitive basketball, and that period of time was led by Reggie Miller.
Miller is one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history and by far the best player in Pacers franchise history. That said, he didn’t always have the best teammates around him.
Sure, guys like Jalen Rose, Mark Jackson, and Dale Davis stand out as some of his best teammates, but there are always guys on the opposite end of the spectrum as well.
Let’s take a look at the 10 worst starters of the Miller era in Indiana. (To be considered a starter, they had to have started at least 20 games in a single season for the team.)
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 10. Travis Best
Travis Best actually spent a lot of time with the Indiana Pacers, as they were the organization that drafted him. He was selected with the 23rd pick in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Best didn’t enter the league as a starter for the Pacers, but he eventually grew into the role, even if it was for a brief period of time. During his sophomore season in Indiana, Best appeared in 76 games and started 46 of them.
Unfortunately for the Pacers, Best wasn’t too effective that season, putting up fairly underwhelming numbers in his age-24 season, especially considering he was a first-round pick.
In his 76 games, Best averaged 9.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 44.2% from the field and 36.8% from beyond the three-point line.
His stats weren’t too bad, but all in all, he certainly was one of the worst starters of the era, albeit the 10th worst.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 9. LaSalle Thompson
At 6-foot-10, LaSalle Thompson played a ton of big man minutes for the Indiana Pacers throughout the course of his career there, as he joined the franchise via trade in the 1988-89 season.
Thompson spent the first portion of his career with the Kansas City Kings (and Sacramento Kings, once they moved cities) before joining the Pacers, where he started for the first couple of seasons.
In his first three-and-a-half seasons with the Pacers, Thompson was close to a full-time starter for the team. He was fine in that role but transitioned into more of a bench role in the latter portion of his Pacers career.
The 15-year NBA veteran was known for his tough-nosed play and for the most part, his role on the bench for Indiana, as Rik Smits and Dale Davis were consistent faces in the starting lineup.
Again, Thompson wasn’t terrible in his role as a starter for the Pacers, but as far as full-time starting guys go during Reggie Miller’s tenure with the team, he was far from the best.
In his best season as a (mostly) full-time starter, Thompson averaged 7.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 48.8% from the field (without taking threes).
Thompson was fine, but when it came to his role, he was best served as a hustle guy off the bench.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 8. Austin Croshere
Another player who spent a long time playing in the NBA, Austin Croshere spent the majority of his career with the Indiana Pacers and was a spot starter for them in multiple seasons.
However, while he was never a full-time starter, he crossed the 20-game threshold multiple times during his tenure with the team, making him eligible for this list.
The 6-foot-9 forward was drafted by the Pacers with the 12th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft., but he didn’t step into the league as a starter. In fact, he didn’t appear in over 30 games for the Pacers until his third season in the league.
On top of that, Croshere didn’t get his first 20-start (or more) season until his fourth year, in which he started 23 games for Indiana. He had two more of such seasons in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.
And while Croshere stuck around, playing 12 years in the NBA, nine of them with the Pacers, he was never a great starting option for an Indiana team looking to contend.
In his best season (when he started at least 20 games), Croshere averaged 10.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists while shooting just 39.4% from the field and 33.8% from behind the three-point line.
He might find himself higher up this list if he was a more regular starter, but since he was supposed to just be a bench guy, he gets a bit of slack.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 7. Metta World Peace
Now, at first glance, one will absolutely ask why Metta World Peace, then known as Ron Artest, would find himself on a list like this when in reality, he was great for the Indiana Pacers.
World Peace made his one and only All-Star game while he was a member of the Pacers and put up All-Star-caliber numbers in each of his seasons with the team.
That’s all without mentioning his dominance on the defensive side of the ball, too, as he was one of the best defenders in the league. He even won the Defensive Player of the Year award with the Pacers in the 2003-04 season (his All-Star year).
So, again, why would he be on a list like this?
Well, because the one giant blemish on World Peace’s career happened during his time with the Pacers, and it’s a stain so bad that he has to be on this list of worst starters.
The Malice at the Palace was one of the worst events in the history of the NBA, let alone the Pacers organization. It left a stain so bad that the league had to suspend World Peace for the entire remainder of the season after he played just seven games.
After the incident, World Peace would only play 16 more games for the Pacers before getting traded to the Sacramento Kings the following season, ending his promising career in Indiana before it could fully get going.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 6. Ron Anderson
Going from a former Ron A. to a current Ron A., Ron Anderson enjoyed a long NBA career with a bunch of different teams, including a stint with the Indiana Pacers.
Anderson was traded to the Pacers by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the middle of the 1985-86 season in exchange for a 1987 fourth-round draft pick that eventually turned into Carven Holcomb, who never appeared in an NBA game.
Funnily enough, the season when Anderson got traded to the Pacers was the only year he spent with the team in which he started at least 20 games for them.
He only played in 60 games for the Pacers that year after getting traded, but 27 of them were starts, so he qualifies for this list. Unfortunately, Anderson didn’t stick in the starting lineup.
The season he earned his 27 starts, he averaged 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists for the Pacers while shooting 49.3% from the field and 25.0% from behind the three-point line.
Those aren’t actually terrible stats. Anderson was decent when he was playing starting-level minutes for the Pacers, but the fact that he didn’t start a single game for the team the following season speaks volumes.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 5. Sam Perkins
Sam Perkins is a very well-known NBA player, as he enjoyed an extremely successful career in the league, playing with multiple teams and spending 17 years in the NBA.
He’s perhaps best known for his time with the Dallas Mavericks, as they drafted him with the fourth pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, he made an All-Rookie team and had a bunch of great years with them.
Perkins went on to also play for the Los Angeles Lakers and Seattle Supersonics before joining forces with the Indiana Pacers in free agency ahead of the 1998-99 season.
At that point, Perkins was 37 years old and entering the last stage of his impressive NBA career, but the Pacers brought him off the bench. Well, for the first two years, at least.
In his final season with the Pacers, Perkins started 41 of the 64 games he played in during his age-39 season in 2000-01, and needless to say, it didn’t go too well.
That year, Perkins averaged 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 38.1% from the field and 34.5% from behind the three-point arc. He only played 15.6 minutes per contest.
Perkins was a great NBA player, but as a starter for the Reggie Miller-led Pacers, he left a lot to be desired.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 4. Erick Dampier
Yet another player who had a very long career in the NBA, Erick Dampier spent 16 seasons in the league. He played for the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks, with most of those years being played with the latter two teams.
In fact, Dampier only spent one season with the Pacers, and it was his rookie year. He appeared in 72 games for the club and started 21 of them, making him eligible for this list.
At 6-foot-11, Dampier played the center position for the Pacers in his rookie year with the team, as they selected him with the 10th-overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft and used him as a spot starter.
In his one and only year with Indiana, Dampier averaged 5.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting just 39.0% from the field (and he wasn’t a three-point shooter).
Those numbers aren’t great, and at first glance, one may believe Dampier to be a bust for this reason. He only spent one year with the team, he wasn’t great, and then he was gone.
In reality, Dampier was used in a trade to bring Chris Mullin to Indiana, and that’s the only reason he isn’t higher on this list.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 3. James Jones
James Jones is most well-known for his time with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers or, more specifically, his time as a teammate of LeBron James.
He won three championships, all of which were with James, as he was a part of the two titles James won in Miami as well as the championship he won with the Cavaliers.
However, just like Erick Dampier, Jones actually started his career with the Indiana Pacers. They selected him with the 20th pick in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft.
Jones only appeared in six games during his rookie season but turned into an everyday player in his sophomore year, playing in 75 games and starting 24 of them.
That said, Jones was particularly great that season. In 17.7 minutes of playing time per contest, Jones averaged 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 39.6% from the field and 39.8% from distance.
After his second season with the Pacers, Jones was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a second-round pick which turned into Mike Taylor, a guy who never ended up in Indiana.
Jones churned in an impressive NBA career spanning 14 years. He even won three titles. But his time with the Pacers wasn’t ideal.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 2. Greg Dreiling
Greg Dreiling spent 10 years in the NBA, most of which was played with the Indiana Pacers. He spent seven seasons with Indiana, two with the Dallas Mavericks, and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
At 7-foot-1, Dreiling played the center position for Indiana and was a career bench guy. Not just a bench guy, though, a deep bench guy, as he rarely played real minutes.
Indiana selected him with the second pick in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft, but in his first season with the team, he only appeared in 24 games with the team, playing 5.3 minutes per contest.
Unfortunately for Dreiling, this trend continued. Through his first four seasons with the team, while his games played numbers went up, his minutes per game did not. He didn’t crack over 10 minutes per game until his fifth year in the league.
That year, he broke through into the regular rotation for the Pacers, but as one might expect from a guy who didn’t get minutes up to that point, it wasn’t the best experiment.
Dreiling appeared in 73 games during the 1990-91 season, starting 42 of them. (He started in 23 games for the Pacers the next year, too.) He averaged 3.5 points sand 3.5 rebounds while shooting 50.5% from the field.
For what he was, Dreiling was fine, but he wasn’t a starter.
Ranking 10 worst Pacers starters of the Reggie Miller era: 1. George McCloud
The worst starter of the Reggie Miller era is a tale of high hopes, underperformance, disappointment, and an unfortunate outcome for the Indiana Pacers.
Coming out of college, George McCloud was a top prospect. He was one of the best players to come out of Florida State, and the Pacers made him the seventh pick in the 1989 NBA Draft.
In his final season with the Seminoles, McCloud averaged 22.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 44.8% from the field and 43.9% from beyond the arc.
Unfortunately, in his first four seasons with the Pacers, McCloud was a bust. In his fourth and final year with the team, he started 21 games, but that year, he averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 41.1% from the field and 32.0% from deep.
Indiana released him after four years with the team, and McCloud went to play in Italy. His first stint alone gets him on the list, but what happened next is why he tops it.
After one year overseasons, McCloud returned to the NBA, caught on with the Dallas Mavericks, and in his second year back, he averaged 18.9 points in 79 games (63 starts) with Dallas.
Not only was Indiana’s top-10 selection a bust with the team and a terrible starter, but he was great elsewhere. A true flop for the Pacers.