Tales of My Adventures at an Indiana Pacers Game
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I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to talk about the Pacers-76ers game my dad and I took my son to see. That is what I’ll be talking about today.
I love going to NBA games. They’re fun, fast paced, super athletic and they end in just around two hours. I also like watching the NBA live because I believe that pro basketball players are the most athletic professional athletes. I told my son that this is my version of ballet. To see grown men this big do the things they do is amazing. From the footwork to the ball movement to the stops and starts and sudden bursts, it blows my mind. If you ever get to see Joel Embiid play basketball live, do it. He is an amazing athlete. I’ve seen him twice this year and I’ve been absolutely blown away by his skill and how effortless he makes it look. It is wild to see the things he does live and in person.
This is the first time I’ve ventured outside Memphis for a NBA game. I got way back into the NBA within the last 15 years, and started going to live games right before my son was born. Memphis was an easy pick. It was close, they weren’t always good so tickets were cheap and the arena is nice and has bbq nachos. I would go see the Thunder play there because I adopted them as my team when the Sonics moved. After KD left I was looking for a new team and Memphis made sense. So I adopted them and they’re my team. This made the decision to go there for games even easier. But I had already been to a Grizzlies game this season and their tickets are going up again since they’re good. My dad did some research and found that Indianapolis was only eight extra miles in driving distance, and similar tickets were far less expensive. So we got tickets having never been to a game there and took our chances.
It worked out great. The Pacers arena is very nice. It is a little smaller than the FedEx Forum, but that works in their favor. It feels more intimate. You could see everything. I was even able to spot the injured guys in street clothes. You could hear squeaking from the shoes. I could hear plays being called out. They had a mic in the rim so you could hear swishes. The games played during timeouts were fun. I saw a shrimp eating contest at halftime. They also did dunks off trampolines during a timeout. They had puppy races. It was dope. They packed a lot in and I appreciated that. I think they do a little more because the Pacers are mediocre this season and their two best guys were out. They had to find ways to make it more fun. The bathrooms were clean. The team store was two stories. They had escalators or stairs to get to different levels. They had windows where you could see outside within the gym. The floor was great, and that big P they paint with the basketball at center court was a sight to behold. I was into the whole experience at the Pacers arena. I thought they did an excellent job. And with Indiana being such a big basketball state, it all made sense in the end to me.
I walked away very impressed with the whole NBA live game experience in Indianapolis. I say go if you can while they’re still a middling team. It is worth your time.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.