Metta Saniford-Artest took to social media to praise the Pacers.
Metta Saniford-Artest took to social media to praise the Pacers. originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Indiana Pacers, despite not making the NBA Finals since 2000, have been a fixture of the playoffs more seasons than not.
Advertisement
Against the New York Knicks, the Pacers finally broke through and will meet the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first championship appearance in a quarter of a century. Since 2000, the Pacers have had more than their fair share of talent, although the Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics kept them from making the Finals.
In the early 2000s, after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in their lone Finals appearance, the Pacers assembled one of the best rosters in team history, although the Malice at the Palace in 2004 helped dismantle that roster and their title hopes.
A central figure, Metta Saniford-Artest (aka Metta World Peace, Ron Artest), took to social media to celebrate his former team finally making it back to the Finals.
Saniford-Artest was not on the 2000 Pacers' team, although he won Defensive Player of the Year in Indiana in 2004 and went on four playoff runs during his Pacers tenure.
Advertisement
While playing in Indiana, he was very productive, averaging 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals.
After serving multiple suspensions from the league, the Pacers traded him to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojaković and he would later go on to win a title next to Kobe Bryant on the Lakers in 2010
After retiring, he has re-found his Pacers fandom and spent time coaching in the G League and playing in IceCube's Big3 league.
Check out the All Pacers homepage for more news, analysis, and must-read articles.
Related: Selfless Indiana Pacers Not Exempt From 'Face of the League' Debate
Related: Rick Carlisle Offers Brutal Indiana Pacers Injury Update
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
30 Most Important Eagles of 2025: No. 29 Azeez Ojulari
Every day from now until the start of training camp, we're counting down our 30 Most Important Eagles for the 2025 season. The Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up for Super Bowl defense, which features plenty of new and returning faces within the organization. Several players, coaches, and front-office members are crucial to the team's success this season. Every day from now until the start of training camp, we're counting down our 30 Most Important Eagles for the 2025 season. We'll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to 2025, and tackle the most significant question facing them this year. Next up is Azeez Ojulari, a former Georgia Bulldog and Giants draft pick who has the talent to post double-digit sacks in his first year with the Eagles. Background Position: OLB Age: 25 Experience: 5-year vet 2025 cap hit: $1,672,000 2024 recap The 6-foot-3, 250-pound player posted six sacks in 11 games in the 2024 season. 2025 outlook At just 24 years old, the savvy edge rusher has a chance to make an impact for Philadelphia within Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio's scheme. The pass rusher has been up and down, but when he's up, Ojulari can be impressive. Ojulari was the odd man out to start last season, playing just 37 percent of the defensive snaps and logging only one sack in the first five games. After Thibodeaux suffered a wrist injury, that opened the door for Ojulari. The 24-year-old made the most of his return to the starting lineup with five sacks in three games and finished the season with eight. Biggest question: Can Ojulari replace Josh Sweat's production? Like Josh Uche, Ojulari could cash out with a big season rushing the passer in Philadelphia. In his first year in the league, he broke the Giants' record for sacks by a rookie with eight. In four years in the NFL, Ojulari has compiled 37 QB hits, 22 sacks, and 21 tackles for loss in 46 games. This time last year, Zack Baun quietly signed a one-year deal with the Eagles after exiting New Orleans with unfulfilled potential and a desire to be a starter. Fast forward, Baun switched positions and earned a starting role, Pro Bowl, and All-Pro honors while becoming a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award. Baun turned that into a three-year deal, and Ojulari could cash out similarly. 30 Most Important Eagles of 2025 We're counting down our 30 Most Important Eagles of 2025. Check back every day leading up to the start of training camp. No. 30 OL Kendall Lamm, No. 29 Azeez Ojulari
New York Post
26 minutes ago
- New York Post
TJ McConnell's mom has tense moment with ESPN crew in gutting NBA Finals scene
TJ McConnell's mom, Shelly, wasn't having it when ESPN cameras filmed the Pacers guard crying in her arms after Indiana's loss to the Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. ESPN cameras followed McConnell into the tunnel at OKC's Paycom Center, where his mother was waiting to console him privately after Indiana's103-91 defeat at the hands of OKC. 'Stop!' Shelly said as she put her hand up to the camera. The camera followed the mother-son duo as they walked arm-in-arm down the hallway. McConnell kept his head down and on Shelly's shoulder as she kept telling the camera person to stop filming. 3 TJ McConnell's mom, Shelly told ESPN cameras to stop filming the Pacers guard crying in her arms after Indiana's loss to the Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, June 22, 2025. X 3 TJ McConnell's mom, Shelly consoled him after Indiana's loss to the Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, June 22, 2025. X 3 TJ McConnell's mom, Shelly wasn't having it when ESPN cameras filmed the Pacers guard crying in her arms after Indiana's loss to the Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, June 22, 2025. X Eventually, they backed off. McConnell also received support from Pacers alum Reggie Miller, who was waiting to console the team in the back hallways at Paycom Center. The veteran guard — who stepped when Tyrese Haliburton went down with an Achilles injury — was crying in Miller's arms, as seen in a social media video. McConnell finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. The Pacers will be faced with a decision at the point guard position if Haliburton misses the entirety of the 2025-26 season. McConnell proved himself a worthy candidate with his strong performacne in the Pacers' postseason run, which included upsets of the Cavaliers and Knicks, and came up one win short of a championship.
28 minutes ago
The Thunder are NBA champions, and they might be just getting started
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The promise came three years ago from Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti. It might have been overlooked for a couple of reasons. One, the Thunder were awful at the time. Two, he was speaking Latin. 'Labor omnia vincit,' Presti said after the 2021-22 season, quoting a motto of Oklahoma. Depending on how Presti was translating it, it could have been 'hard work conquers all' or 'slow work conquers all.' Either way, it applies to the Thunder. They did hard work. They did slow work. They conquered all. The Thunder — three years removed from winning 24 games — won 84 games this season and are NBA champions after beating the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game NBA Finals slugfest. For the rest of the NBA, this should be a scary development. They have the MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He and all of Oklahoma City's key players are under contract for next season, there's a 2024 lottery pick in Nikola Topic who didn't even play this season because of a torn ACL and the Thunder currently have two picks in the top 24 in this year's draft as well. They are young; their starters, right now, are 27, 26, 26, 24 and 23. They are bold. And they might — should — be contending for a while. 'We definitely still have room to grow,' said Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, the league's scoring champion and now, an NBA champion as well. 'That's the fun part of this. So many of us can still get better. There's not very many of us on the team that are in our prime or even close to it. We have a lot to grow, individually and as a group. I'm excited for the future of this team. This is a great start, for sure.' And the timing of them hitting this sort of stride is pretty good, too. Plenty of teams have questions going into next season. Oklahoma City isn't one of them. Jayson Tatum in Boston, Damian Lillard in Milwaukee and now Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana all have Achilles injuries and figure to miss most if not all of next season. The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James will be going into his 23rd season. Golden State's Stephen Curry is turning 38 next season. Kevin Durant, now of Houston (in a trade that's going to be official in the coming weeks), is going into his 18th season. Philadelphia's hopes hinge on Joel Embiid coming back healthy. New York will be dealing with a coaching change. Oklahoma City seems to have everything right in place. 'They have a lot of great players on this team,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all seem to enjoy playing with and off one another, none of them caring who gets credit. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein fit seamlessly into the roles the Thunder asked them to play. Luguentz Dort is a defensive machine and has come to realize that most people don't have the ability to appreciate how good he is at that end. It's not just the players who don't care about puffing out their own chests. Same goes for the leadership. 'You're not guaranteed anything in the league,' Caruso said. 'I think that's the biggest thing that happens year to year that people forget about. Any moment your team can change with a trade, with an injury, with something that's out of your control. To be able to get to the pinnacle of this sport and win it is nothing short of extraordinary. To think that you can just walk in and do it every single year is a little bit naïve. Rest assured, we'll show up Day 1 next year ready to get better and ready to chase this again.' Presti, the architect of it all, rarely speaks publicly. Same goes for Clay Bennett, the owner. And coach Mark Daigneault is the calm in the eye of any storm, the perfect driver of the Thunder bus. 'There's no guarantee you end it the way that we did,' Daigneault said. 'I just wanted it so bad for them. I was just so thrilled that we were able to get that done and they get to experience this because they deserve it. The way they approach it, the professionalism, competitiveness, team-first nature, like I said, I wanted it so bad for them.' The journey isn't over for the Thunder. It's just starting. Presti has a war chest filled with draft picks and the team has some financial flexibility to add a piece if it so chooses. And now there's a title to defend. Labor omnia vincit. There's more work to do. 'We have a lot of hard work in front of us,' Presti said that day in 2022. 'We have to grind in and do it. That's what the state is about. That's what the history of the community is about. That's what the basketball team here is about.'
