The Indiana Pacers are making up for their mistakes of the past.
They stand on top of the NBA with the league's best record (38-10) and many are proclaiming that this year is Indiana's best chance to win their first NBA championship.
The closest they came to tasting championship glory was in 2000 when they were led by the legendary, Reggie Miller, to the NBA Finals. They lost in six games to the LA Lakers (which would be the first of their three-peat).
However, the Pacers were a legitimate title contender in 2004-05. Led by Miller, they had a bolstered roster featuring All-Stars, Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal.
Artest and O'Neal were both considered elite defenders. Artest was the league's best perimeter defender and O'Neal was the game's premier post-defender.
Until the infamous Malice in the Palace, Artest and O'Neal were destined to help the Pacers achieve championship success.
It is Artest's greatest regret.
“The biggest regret of my life, really, is bailing out on that Pacer team,” Artest said. “I mean, outside not going to church every single Sunday, bailing out on that Pacer team is my biggest regret.
“When I saw Jermaine [this season], I felt like I didn’t even belong in the same room as him,” Artest said. “I felt like a coward. I don’t like feeling like a coward, and I feel like a coward. That’s the biggest regret of my life. Steve Jackson, Jermaine, Jamaal, even Jeff [Foster] — a blue-collar guy like him, put his life on the line for us on the court, and I totally disrespected him. And of course Reggie. I was in a position to win a championship, Reggie was in position, and I bailed out on Reggie. I feel like a coward. A big-time coward. It’s hard for me to even speak to them, hard for me to see them.”
Even Miller acknowledges the opportunity they squandered.
"Jermaine and Ron constantly had problems and it was my job to bring them together because if they had gotten it right, and they never did, they would’ve won multiple championships.
"To have the best perimeter defender and the best low post defender at the one time on the same team, and I was trying to get them to understand if they could communicate and not worry about their offensive game, the offense would take care of itself.
"If they could come together and set aside their differences…they could’ve been so good together. It’s really is (sad) because we had a hell of a team."
Roy Hibbert and Paul George are the new and improved version of Artest and O'Neal.
Hibbert, last year's defensive player of the year, and George, an MVP candidate, are elite defenders in the post and perimeter.
They preach a team-first attitude and it looks to be paying off as they vie for Pacer's first championship.
