If you ask a casual fan about the Indiana Pacers last championship, they’ll probably look at you sideways. They might mention Reggie Miller pushing off against the Knicks or Tyrese Haliburton’s wild 2024-25 run to the Finals. But here is the cold, hard reality that keeps Pacers fans up at night: the franchise hasn't actually won a championship since the Nixon administration.
Wait. That's not entirely right.
They’ve won titles. Three of them, actually. They just didn't happen in the NBA. To find the last time Indiana sat on the throne of the basketball world, you have to go back to 1973. This was the era of the ABA (American Basketball Association), a league defined by red, white, and blue balls, a three-point line long before the NBA thought it was cool, and a Pacers team that was basically the 90s Bulls before the 90s Bulls existed.
Honestly, the fact that Indiana dominated an entire league only to become the "lovable runner-up" for the next fifty years is one of the weirdest arcs in sports history.
The 1973 ABA Finals: The Last Time Indiana Ruled
The 1972-73 season was the peak. It was the Indiana Pacers last championship win, capping off a run of three titles in four years. If you weren't around then, or haven't fallen down a YouTube rabbit hole of grainy footage, it's hard to describe how good this team was.
They weren't just winning; they were a juggernaut.
They finished the regular season 51-33. Kinda decent, right? But the playoffs were where they turned into monsters. They faced the Kentucky Colonels in a seven-game war. Game 7 was played on May 12, 1973, in Louisville.
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The Pacers won 108-96.
George McGinnis was the hero of that series. He was a homegrown kid from Indianapolis, and he played like he was made of granite. In that deciding Game 7, Big George dropped 27 points. But he wasn't alone. Mel Daniels, arguably the greatest Pacer ever (sorry, Reggie), was a vacuum on the glass. He grabbed 15.4 rebounds per game during that regular season. Think about that for a second.
Why the ABA Titles Still Matter
Some people try to put an asterisk next to these rings. They say, "Oh, it wasn't the NBA, it doesn't count."
That's nonsense.
The ABA in the early 70s was stacked. We're talking about a league that had Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, and Rick Barry. When the merger finally happened in 1976, the Pacers were one of the four teams brought over because they were too successful to ignore.
The problem? The NBA basically taxed them into poverty. To join the "big leagues," Indiana had to pay a $3.2 million entry fee and give up their share of TV revenue for years. They had to sell off their best players—including McGinnis—just to keep the lights on.
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Basically, the NBA broke the Pacers' back as a reward for being too good.
The 2000 NBA Finals Heartbreak
For decades, the year 2000 was the closest we got to replacing that 1973 memory. Reggie Miller finally got the Pacers to the NBA Finals. They ran into a buzzsaw named Shaquille O’Neal and a young Kobe Bryant.
Reggie was spectacular. He averaged 24.3 points in that series. He even dropped 35 in Game 4. But Shaq was averaging 38 and 16. It wasn't fair. The Pacers lost in six games, and the 1973 banner remained the lonely "last one" in the rafters.
The 2025 Near-Miss: A New Hope?
Fast forward to the present. The Indiana Pacers last championship conversation almost changed forever in June 2025.
Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam led a gritty, high-octane squad all the way to the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was a Cinderella story nobody saw coming. Indianapolis was buzzing. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was a madhouse.
But history repeated itself.
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Despite a heroic effort from Siakam, who brought that championship pedigree from Toronto, the Thunder's youth and depth were too much. The Pacers fell in the Finals, extending the drought. It was a brutal reminder that in the NBA, "almost" doesn't get you a parade.
What the History Books Actually Say
Let's look at the actual trophy case, because people get confused about the numbers.
- 1970 ABA Championship: Defeated the Los Angeles Stars (4-2).
- 1972 ABA Championship: Defeated the New York Nets (4-2).
- 1973 ABA Championship: Defeated the Kentucky Colonels (4-3).
That’s it.
Since 1973, the Pacers have won exactly zero titles. They’ve won plenty of Division titles (six in the NBA era) and two Eastern Conference Championships (2000 and 2025), but the big gold trophy remains elusive.
Actionable Insights for Pacers Fans
It’s easy to get cynical, but looking at the history of the Indiana Pacers last championship actually offers a roadmap for the future.
- Appreciate the ABA Legacy: Stop letting people tell you those three rings don't count. The Pacers were the most successful franchise in ABA history. That's part of the DNA.
- Watch the Draft: The Pacers historically don't get the #1 pick. They build through smart trades (like the Haliburton deal) and late-lottery gems (like Reggie Miller at #11).
- Support the Small Market: The Pacers' biggest hurdle has always been the financial "entry tax" and the difficulty of attracting superstars to Indy. The current 2026 roster is built on chemistry, not just max-contract hunting.
The drought is long—over 50 years—but the 2025 Finals run proved the window is open again. Whether the next banner says "ABA" or "NBA," the basketball world knows that in Indiana, the game just matters more.
If you want to dive deeper into the stats of that 1973 squad, check out the archives at the Indiana State Library or look up Slick Leonard’s coaching records. The man was a legend for a reason.
Next Steps for You
To truly understand the "Gold and Blue" spirit, you should research the 1976 ABA-NBA merger details. Understanding the financial penalties the Pacers faced explains exactly why they struggled for the first decade in the NBA. You can also look into the "Save the Pacers" telethon from 1977, which is a wild story about how the fans literally kept the team from moving.