That sound that you hear off in the distance is the implosion of the Indiana Pacers. A lot of things have been coming to light in regards to the inner turmoil of the Pacers franchise and it goes beyond the basketball court for sure.
First, Yahoo Sports reports that Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner got into a bit of a fracas during a practice before the playoffs. On the eve of the playoffs, two Indiana Pacers pulled a cut up, swearing, Evan Turner off the floor of Bankers Life Fieldhouse after a violent entanglement with Lance Stephenson.
Saying that Lance Stephenson got on a players nerves is just like saying water is wet, or the sky is blue. It is just that the timing of the fight between these two was bad. No team needs to go into the postseason with this degree of inner turmoil. It would be wrong to say that this fight was the reason that the Atlanta Hawks were able to grab Game 1 of the series. That would be shortchanging the effort that ATL put forth that night. But the fight between Stephenson and Turner speaks to a bigger issue with the Indiana Pacers.
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Usually, when the circus acts start fighting each other, the ringmaster starts feeling the heat. That is the case with Pacers' head coach Frank Vogel. According to ESPN senior NBA writer, Mark Stein, Vogel is working to save his coaching job with Indy now. That seems like a joke considering he was able to get Indiana to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. It is Vogel's job to hold things together in the locker room no matter what personnel decisions the front office decides to make.
It is kind of ironic, though, that the soap opera started when Danny Granger was traded to Philadelphia for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen. All of a sudden you hear center Roy Hibbert talking about how selfish people on the team are though he won't name names.
The drama that is Indiana Pacers' basketball is only at the tip of the iceberg right now. Best believe as the days and weeks go on there is going to be more and the story will get jucier. Stay tuned !