We Changed the Game

by Bob Netolicky, Richard Tinkham, Robin Miller

WE CHANGED THE GAME is a story-the real story-about the very beginning of the Indiana Pacers professional basketball team. It’s about the laughable new league founded in the 1960's in which the Pacers got their start as a team, the American Basketball Association (ABA), which gave many unsung players a shot or a second chance to make it in pro basketball but faced constant struggles during its brief existence from 1967-1976 before it merged with the NBA. During those early days in the ABA league, the Indiana Pacers captured three ABA league championship titles. But also—and only known by a select few—the Pacers, and the ABA league as a whole, barely survived through some incredibly close calls and financial fiascos, facing the brink of extinction more than once. But it was with the unwavering support of Pacers fans, very creative negotiating by Pacers’ co-founder and team protector Richard Tinkham, an ABA-NBA league merger, and two Indianapolis-based real estate legends that ultimately saved the ABA and secured the Pacers’ future as one of the top-contending professional basketball teams in the country. The love that Indiana basketball fans had for the Pacers also triggered the explosion of downtown Indianapolis, transforming it into a vibrant, progressive state capital over these past 50 years. Through the eyes of Robin Miller, Richard Tinkham and Bob Netolicky who were there through it all, sit back and enjoy one of the most improbable and inspirational stories in professional sports history. The Pacers and the ABA league proved that with big dreams, loyalty and perseverance, even the impossible really can be possible... and ordinary people truly can change the game.

174 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2017

Reviews

[RA · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of the Indiana Pacers and the ABA, from 1967--1976. The wildness of a fledgling league and franchise, somehow with staying power, and who made into the NBA-ABA merger.

Bob Netolicky, notable wild Pacer player; Dick Tinkham, Hoosier lawyer who willed the franchise into & through it's existence, and spearheaded the later merger, however improbable that might have seemed; and Robin Miller, "boy" reporter all combine to tell the story of this part of Pacer history.

This would be eye-opening to most Hoop fans, who know little about the ABA, but the 3-point shot and the Red/White/Blue ball. Never heard of Roger Brown or Mel Daniels, well read this. Highly recommended to students and vicarious historians of basketball.

Notably, part of the proceeds of the book go to the Dropping Dimes Foundation, which supports former ABA players, staff and families.

[Bill Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun quick read on the history of the Indiana Pacers, their trials and triumphs. The book also tells how the Pacers helped change Indianapolis from Naptown to what it is today, a major player in the sports world. I remember going to games at The Coliseum and Market Square Arena and it’s true, the downtown closed after 5pm, unless there was a Pacers game then it stayed up for a few more hours but after the game everybody headed back out to the suburbs.

[Chip Rigsbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any of the player's stories about Bobby Leonard were hilarious. I was laughing so hard I was crying and had to pause to catch my breath. A special thank you to the authors for their efforts in retelling the birth, growth, and survival of the Pacers.

[Jacob Douglas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapter about the Pacers winning a championship: 4 pages

Chapter about the Pacers sexual escapades: 20 pages

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

What fun!

[Indydave1958 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Cliff Notes version of the much more thorough “Reborn,” by former Pacers beat writer Mark Monteith. It’s about what you would expect from the late, irascible Robin Miller (R.I.P. to my former Indianapolis Star colleague.)

As another reviewer has noted, this is as much a kiss-and-tell overture as a history of Indianapolis’s pro basketball team. It is unsavory and outrageously sexist. Somewhere in here is an inspiring story, but it many places, it’s a mere subplot.