Even with Tyrese Haliburton’s season-ending injury, the Indiana Pacers’ trip to the NBA Finals seemed to earn them some respect. Apparently, those who made the NBA schedule did not get the memo as they seemed to do almost everything they could to keep the Pacers out of national attention and produce few favors. Instead, they are back to the same small-market script, same disrespect that Indy is familiar with by now.
The Pacers are missing out on the national spotlight
One of the things noticed first when schedules are released is the number of nationally televised games. This upcoming season the Pacers have nine nationally televised games, beginning with a Finals rematch against the Thunder, though this isn’t even OKC’s opening game and will be OKC’s second nationally televised game of the season.
This number is a decrease from the 14 national games Indy had last year and is equivalent to the 2023-24 season. To place the number in perspective, the Lakers, Warriors, Knicks, and Thunder are all tied with 34 nationally televised games... 34. The reigning Eastern Conference Champions will receive about 25% of the national exposure as the highest teams and about 33% as much as Minnesota, the Western Conference runner-up.
While any Pacers fan was aware of their staunch play late last year, one of the main reasons their run to the Finals was a “surprise” was because very few on the national level were even aware of the team’s success. That same ignorance will likely take place this season, no matter how well the Pacers play. Of those nine games, only three take place before Christmas, setting up for another unknown season in the national eye.
They also got a slap in the face for Christmas
It is well known that NBA Christmas Day games are highly coveted and are given to the teams with the highest marketability (we see you, LA) or most talent (there is OKC again). So, it is no surprise that 7 of the 10 Christmas Day slots include the LA, NYC, and San Francisco markets, and also Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, SGA, and Victor Wembanyama. Even still, a recently successful Minnesota team, with a rising superstar in Anthony Edwards, received a slot, though the team was pummeled by the Thunder in the West Conference Finals last season. This is a clear example of the league leaning into star power and hype rather than great teams or rewarding success.
To make matters worse, though, is what the Pacers do get to do at Christmas. Instead of playing on Christmas Day, the team gets to play an away/home back-to-back the two days before Christmas Eve and a home/away back-to-back the two days after Christmas. Four games in six days, none of them on Christmas, all the while the Eastern Conference runner-ups get to play at home, on Christmas with rest days before and after.
No matter the reason – Haliburton’s injury, a lackluster free agency, being a smaller market (what’s the population of Minneapolis and Oklahoma City again?) – Indy continually gets written into the same script. The Pacers are disrespected.