"This Is Not a Recognition I Expected"
Pacers Owner Inducted into HOF “This Is a Recognition I Never Expected”
Source: Joe Buglewicz / Getty
SPRINGFIELD, MASS — Longtime Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon was honored with induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, surrounded by his wife and eight children.
Hall of Famers Tamika Catchings, Larry Bird, and Reggie Miller stood by his side as Simon expressed his deep admiration for their commitment to the Pacers and Fever.
“Reggie, we drafted you in 1987, and you became the face of the Pacers, putting us on the map,” Simon said. “The cheers you generated at Market Square Arena and the Fieldhouse can still be heard today. You played your entire 18-year career in our beloved Indiana and epitomize everything it means to be a Pacer.”
Much of Simon’s speech focused on how basketball has united his family. He also shared how the late Jim Morris influenced his decision to buy the team in 1983.
“The team wasn’t doing well, and there were negotiations with a potential buyer who planned to move the team out of town and out of state,” he explained. “It would be hard to imagine Indiana, where basketball was perfected, without the Pacers. That would be tragic.”
In a final attempt to save the team, Jim Morris, the Mayor of Indianapolis, and several city leaders met with Simon and his brother Mel to discuss buying the team and keeping it in the city. “That meeting lasted only 20 minutes, but I owned the team by the end,” Simon recalled.
He also thanked former coach and team executive Donnie Walsh for guiding the Pacers to 19 playoff appearances, six Eastern Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals. Simon noted that in his 41 years as owner, he has had only three basketball presidents, which he described as “great continuity.”
Looking ahead, Simon shared his excitement for the upcoming season. “It’s fantastic to have both the Pacers and the Fever doing well and giving Hoosiers plenty to cheer about,” he said. He concluded his speech by honoring his late brother Melvin, who passed away in 2009, and emphasized how important Melvin was to his success.
“If ever an award deserved two names on it, this would be it,” Simon added.
