pooh
10-29-2004, 07:49 PM
Are Pacers poor victims of a curse?
By Mark Montieth
[email protected]
October 29, 2004
Now that the Boston Red Sox have overcome the Curse of the Bambino by winning the World Series, the search has gone out for the next hexed franchise.
Sports Illustrated has found one: the Indiana Pacers, who have fallen victim to "The Curse of Tom Owens."
While the Red Sox were supposedly jinxed for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees before the 1920 season, SI.com writer Jon Wertheim suggests the Pacers have been victimized by their trade for Owens on June 5, 1981.
The background:
The Pacers' coach at the time, Jack McKinney, had just led the team to the NBA playoffs for the first time.
But he had just lost center James Edwards to free agency, so he traded a first-round draft pick in 1984 to Portland for Owens, a journeyman.
Owens played just one season for the Pacers, averaging 10.5 points. That draft pick, meanwhile, turned out to be the second overall selection in 1984. The Blazers used it to take Sam Bowie, but could have taken Michael Jordan, who went third to Chicago.
The history of the Pacers, and the NBA, would have been rewritten if they had kept the pick and drafted Jordan. Instead, they are still searching for their first NBA title.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh, who took over the basketball operations in 1986, said he doesn't feel cursed. But he agrees he might feel differently had he made the trade.
"Then I don't know what I'd be doing," he said.
The Pacers have reached the playoffs in 13 of the past 15 seasons, and reached the Finals in 2000.
By Mark Montieth
[email protected]
October 29, 2004
Now that the Boston Red Sox have overcome the Curse of the Bambino by winning the World Series, the search has gone out for the next hexed franchise.
Sports Illustrated has found one: the Indiana Pacers, who have fallen victim to "The Curse of Tom Owens."
While the Red Sox were supposedly jinxed for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees before the 1920 season, SI.com writer Jon Wertheim suggests the Pacers have been victimized by their trade for Owens on June 5, 1981.
The background:
The Pacers' coach at the time, Jack McKinney, had just led the team to the NBA playoffs for the first time.
But he had just lost center James Edwards to free agency, so he traded a first-round draft pick in 1984 to Portland for Owens, a journeyman.
Owens played just one season for the Pacers, averaging 10.5 points. That draft pick, meanwhile, turned out to be the second overall selection in 1984. The Blazers used it to take Sam Bowie, but could have taken Michael Jordan, who went third to Chicago.
The history of the Pacers, and the NBA, would have been rewritten if they had kept the pick and drafted Jordan. Instead, they are still searching for their first NBA title.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh, who took over the basketball operations in 1986, said he doesn't feel cursed. But he agrees he might feel differently had he made the trade.
"Then I don't know what I'd be doing," he said.
The Pacers have reached the playoffs in 13 of the past 15 seasons, and reached the Finals in 2000.