Indiana Pacers star Miles Turner is set to the biggest series of his career against the New York Knicks.
The Indiana Pacers have reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row, and this time they are aiming for a real splash.
In 2024, the Pacers were blown away by the Boston Celtics in a 4-0 series sweep. This time they want to be more competitive and ultimately win.
Last season, the Pacers defeated the Knicks to reach a matchup with the Celtics, and there’s no inferiority towards the opening two games at Madison Square Garden.
One player who loves to prove people wrong is Miles Turner. This was a message I revealed on draft night 10 years ago.
Miles Turner was drafted by the Indiana Pacers on the 11th pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.
Turner joined the ambitious Pacers side lead by Paul George at the time, playing 60 games in his debut season and began 30 games.
Speaking in a draft interview, Turner revealed that he thinks he will become a baseball player before growth leads him to basketball.
He explained:
“I actually played baseball for a long time. I thought I was going to go professional in baseball, but your boy started growing up and the strike zone got too big. Man, people can really throw that ball.
“Then I started bumping into a surge in growth, it started getting better and better, it started improving. As a competitor, I just wanted to go out there and prove all these people wrong.”
Turner acknowledged that in his youth, playing basketball was a hobby and that he was constantly amortized, which helped him create a determined “wrong” spirit.
He said:
“And I think there were a lot of obstacles in my way that I said I shouldn’t do this. This is whether I was saying I was good at this, tall, creepy and stupid, isn’t it?
At a Texas university, Turner was on the sidelines for six months with an ankle injury, but Turner refused to let him stop.
“I wondered if I had suffered a major injury a few times before. There were so many ways I did it, but I overcame it with my faith, hard work and dedication alone.”
Ten years later, Miles Turner became one of the top centers in the NBA and spent 10 years with the Indiana Pacers.
Turner recorded 642 regular season games and 43 postseason appearances, but is now even more ready for the Eastern Conference Finals.
He became a free agent in the summer and is considered a target for the LA Lakers, but it’s very clear that he’s at his Indiana home and it’s not surprising to see him re-sign the team.
Pacer’s postseason success strengthened the bond between players, teams and fanbase. Particularly, if they can win the NBA Championship for the first time, Pacer hopes he will stick even more.
Turner declared 10 years ago that he loves to prove people wrong, and enjoys the opportunity to show that Pacer is authentic, with just eight wins to win the title.