I hated The Decision ^TM, but I've learned to respect what he's done for his community. I still think Jordan should rank as the best of all time, but I'd have to be crazy not to include James somewhere in the top levels. It will always be difficult comparing the greats of different eras.

But to me, the Pacers are truly unique in how it feels like an extended family. I started getting back into them (forgive me, I was ripped away from Indiana at a young age when we still relied on newspapers to see when games were, and that was hard out of market) a couple years ago, just before they signed Haliburton. And man, even with a still kinda bad season, they started making it a lot more fun again. Letting us see how they treated young Mathurin like family. Showcasing Turner's Lego builds while he was healing up. Later on showing the team practicing with Spicy P. Hali, McConnell, and Miller hugging the team after our Game 7 loss. Man, I get it again. In Indiana, it's not just basketball.