The Indiana Pacers were founded on February 2, 1967, as an American Basketball Association franchise, and moved to the National Basketball Association in 1976. The Pacers were considered a dynasty in the ABA, winning three titles and six conference titles. The Pacers play in the Eastern Conference and Central Division, and they play their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers have enjoyed some success in the NBA, most notably during the career of Reggie Miller. The Pacers have made the NBA Playoffs 29 out of 49 years, with two trips to the NBA Finals (their most recent appearance occurring in 2025), but have never won an NBA championship.

1967–1976: ABA dynasty

In early 1967, Richard Tinkham, John DeVoe, Chuck DeVoe, Chuck Barnes, and Bob Collins pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association. According to Tinkham, the nickname "Pacers" was a combination of the state's rich history with the harness racing pacers and the pace car used for the running of the Indianapolis 500. Investor Chuck Barnes was a horse racing enthusiast in addition to being business manager of Mario Andretti, A. J. Foyt and Rodger Ward. Barnes' wife, Lois, suggested the name over dinner.

Tinkham said the "Pacers" decision was an easy one, but the real debate was whether the team should be called the Indiana Pacers or the Indianapolis Pacers. Since one of the original ideas for the team was to schedule games throughout the state with its base in Indianapolis, the official team name became the Indiana Pacers on June 16, 1967.https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/whats-name-pacers-quite-bit

For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, now called the Corteva Coliseum. In 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they stayed for 25 years.

Early in the Pacers' second season, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob "Slick" Leonard became the team's head coach, replacing Larry Staverman. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut. His teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Jimmy Rayl, Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Freddie Lewis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount and Roger Brown. On a more tragic note, team president John DeVoe died on December 14, 1968 from a heart attack at the age of 34.https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2021/10/27/indiana-pacers-president-john-devoe-died-courtside-during-game-34/6107592001/

The Indiana Pacers were one of only two teams (along with the Kentucky Colonels) to play for the entire duration of the ABA without relocating, changing its team name or folding. They were also the most successful team in the league's nine-year history, appearing in five ABA Finals and winning three ABA Championships over a four-year period, feats that were never bettered by any other ABA franchise.

1976–1987: Early NBA struggles

The "Save the Pacers" Telethon The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. For the 1976–77 season the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs of the ABA. Financially, the Pacers were by far the weakest of the four ABA refugees. Indeed, they were on far weaker financial footing than the team acknowledged to be the last ABA team left out of the expansion, the Kentucky Colonels. The Pacers only made the cut because the Chicago Bulls owned the NBA rights to the Colonels' last remaining star, Artis Gilmore, and wouldn't have allowed the merger to go through if the Colonels had been included.

The Pacers' financial troubles dated back to their waning days in the ABA; they already begun selling off some of their star players in the last ABA season. They were further weakened by the price required to join the NBA. The league charged a $3.2 million entry fee to each former ABA team. Because the NBA would only agree to accept four ABA teams in the ABA–NBA merger, the Pacers and the three other surviving ABA teams also had to compensate the two remaining ABA franchises which were not a part of the merger. The new NBA teams also were barred from sharing in national TV revenues for four years.

As a result of the steep price, they paid to join the NBA, the Pacers were in a dire financial situation. It took a $100,000 contribution from a group of local businesses to keep the franchise going through June 1977. The team announced that unless season-ticket sales reached 8,000 by the end of July 1977, the club would be sold to someone who might take the franchise elsewhere. WTTV, which was the television flagship for Pacers' games at the time, offered to hold a -hour telethon to keep the team in Indiana. The "Save the Pacers" telethon began on the night of July 3, 1977, and on July 4, ten minutes before it was set to conclude, it was announced that team officials had reached the 8,000-ticket goal. In part because of the telethon, the Pacers' average attendance jumped from 7,615 during the 1976–77 season to 10,982 during the 1977–78 season.

They finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36–46, as Billy Knight and Don Buse were invited to represent Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game. This was one of the few highlights of the Pacers' first 13 years in the league—a time in which they had but one winning season and just two playoff appearances.

1977–1980 A lack of year-to-year continuity became the norm for most of the next decade, as they traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977–78 season even started. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley (who was averaging nearly 27 points per game at the time) was traded in December, while the Pacers' second-leading scorer, John Williamson, was dealt in January. In May 1979, it was announced that Sam Nassi would become the new owner of the team and retain Leonard as coach/general manager. Once described in the press as a "Corporate Mortician", the 57-year-old millionaire from Beverly Hills, California also signed a ten-year lease with the Market Square Arena and later made a partnership with Jerry Buss involving the arena.

As a result of their poor performance, the Pacers needed to resort to publicity stunts to attract fans' attention. Before the 1979 season started, they offered women's basketball star Ann Meyers a tryout contract and invited her to the team's training camp. She became the first and, to this date, only woman to try out for an NBA team, but did not make the final squad.

1980–1987 During this time, the Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history. In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets in order to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis. McGinnis was past his prime, and contributed very little during his two-year return. English, in contrast, went on to become one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. The next year, they traded a 1984 draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Tom Owens. Owens only played one year for the Pacers with little impact. This trade looked even more horrendous three years later. In 1983–84, the Pacers finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, which would have given the Pacers the second overall pick in the draft—the pick that the Blazers famously used to select Sam Bowie while Michael Jordan was still available. As a result of the Owens trade, they were left as bystanders in the midst of one of the deepest drafts in NBA history—including such future stars as Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton.

The Pacers made their first appearance in the NBA Playoffs in 1980–81, falling in the opening round to the Philadelphia 76ers in two straight games. It was the team's only playoff appearance from 1977 to 1986.

On February 8, 1982, Nassi attempted to transfer the team presidency to his minority partner Frank Mariani, but the league blocked it due to the fact that not only would it have to be subject to league approval, Mariani and his business ties with Jerry Buss of the Lakers would have to be examined closer.

With ticket sales being reported as having only sold 1,255 in the 1982–83 season with an average of 4,000 attendance for games, it was announced in April 1983 that Nassi and Mariani would not operate the club and would return the franchise to the league if they could not sell the team to a buyer. Outside groups were reported as being interested in buying and moving the team to California. Indianapolis mayor Bill Hudnut and a group of civic leaders decided to approach several local groups to try to make an offer, with just one group agreeing: Mel and Herb Simon of the Simon Property Group. The reported deal to buy the team was for $11 million (with a significant chunk involving taking in team debts) while the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board helped to purchase the arena. On May 9, the league approved the purchase of the team by the Simons.

Clark Kellogg was drafted by the Pacers in 1982 and showed tremendous promise, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting, but the Pacers finished the 1982–83 season with their all-time worst record of 20–62, and won only 26 games the following season. After winning 22 games in 1984–85 and 26 games in 1985–86, Jack Ramsay replaced George Irvine as coach and led the Pacers to a 41–41 record in 1986–87 and only their second playoff appearance as an NBA team. Chuck Person, nicknamed "The Rifleman" for his renowned long-range shooting, led the team in scoring as a rookie and won NBA Rookie of the Year honors. Their first playoff win in NBA franchise history was earned in Game 3 of their first-round, best-of-five series against the Atlanta Hawks, but it was their only victory in that series, as the Hawks defeated them in four games.

1987–2005: Reggie Miller era

1987–1989 UCLA's Reggie Miller was drafted by the Pacers in 1987, beginning his career as a backup to John Long. Many fans at the time disagreed with Miller's selection over Indiana Hoosiers' standout Steve Alford. The Pacers missed the playoffs in 1987–88, drafted Rik Smits in the 1988 NBA draft, and suffered through a disastrous 1988–89 season in which coach Jack Ramsay stepped down following an 0–7 start. Mel Daniels and George Irvine filled in on an interim basis before Dick Versace took over the 6–23 team on the way to a 28–54 finish. In February 1989, the team did manage to make a trade that would eventually pay off, as they traded veteran center Herb Williams to the Dallas Mavericks for future NBA 6th Man-of-the Year Detlef Schrempf.

1989–1990 In 1989–90, the Pacers parlayed a fast start into the team's third playoff appearance. But the Pacers were swept by the Detroit Pistons, who would go on to win their second consecutive NBA Championship. Reggie Miller became the first Pacer to play in the All-Star Game since 1976 on the strength of his 24.6 points-per-game average.

1990–1992

In 1990–91, the Pacers returned to the playoffs with a 41–41 record, and Schrempf was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. Bob Hill was head coach at this time. The Pacers had a memorable series against the highly favored Boston Celtics that they managed to extend to five games before losing Game 5, 124–121, with Larry Bird hosting one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. During that season the Pacers changed logos for the first time, and also unveiled new uniforms designed by Olympic gold medallist Florence Griffith Joyner.

The Pacers returned to the playoffs in 1992 and met the Celtics for the second year in a row. But this time, the Celtics left no doubt who was the better team, as they swept the Pacers in three straight games.

1992–1993