INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Myles Turner spent his first 10 NBA seasons finding his way around Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
He played there, practiced there until the Indiana Pacers built a new facility, soaked in hot and cold tubs in the training rooms there and, of course, mingled with coaches, teammates and staff members in the ever-changing locker room. Turner thought he'd experienced nearly every possible environment he could imagine — even competing in the NBA
Finals and watching the NBA All-Star Game.
Then came Monday when one of the longest-tenured Pacers in team history returned to Indianapolis for the first time since signing a free agent deal with the rival Milwaukee Bucks, and he was suddenly trying to learn some new ways around the arena.
“I was joking with the guys I’ve never even seen the visitor’s locker room, that I didn’t even know what it looked like, so definitely just a different territory to say the least," he said following the team's morning shootaround. “I've never been on this side of things.”
He's also likely to get a very different reception during Monday night's player introductions after leaving the only pro town the Texan ever called home before July.
Word of Turner's surprise departure leaked less than two weeks after All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton went down with a torn Achilles tendon in the first half of a Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City and after management had already said re-signing Turner was the offseason priority.
Instead, Pacers fans got hit with a double whammy — losing Haliburton for the entire 2025-26 season and then losing Turner to a team the Pacers have faced 21 times over the past two seasons, including first-round playoff matchups each of the past two years. Indiana won both of those postseason series.
But it's what Turner did since then that could prompt those who cheered so loudly for him just a few months ago during the ups and downs of last season's playoffs to turn on him Monday night.
Some are merely upset Turner took the four-year, $107 million contract — what Turner claims was $40 million more than the Pacers offered — and ran. Others became disillusioned with post-signing comments such as wanting to play for a team that would remain competitive this season or in a city that would “celebrate him.”
Turner has tried to clarify those comments and took another chance Monday to address his real intentions just hours before facing his former team, the defending Eastern Conference champs.
“I'm glad we're talking about this up front, man,” he said. “In no way was I talking about this city, was I talking about my time here. None of that. They say all the time this league's a business, and I got my first real taste of what that business (during the offseason). Obviously, you've got to take the emotions out of it. So, no, it didn't change the way I felt (about) here. Now ownership and the front office, that's a different story.”
Turner can only hope it makes amends before these teams begin the next chapter of this rivalry.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Turner leading the way, Milwaukee is 4-2 and tied with Detroit for the third-best record in the East. Without Turner, Haliburton and nearly half of the Pacers' opening-day rotation because of injuries, only New Orleans and Brooklyn have fewer wins than Indiana (1-5).
But if Turner knows anything about this Pacers roster, which has had only two key changes since he was on it last season, it's not to write off short-handed Indiana, especially on that court he called home for a decade after Larry Bird drafted him in the first round. Even then, Bird thought Turner was the best pure shooter on the team.
The bigger question is how all those fans will respond to seeing Turner wearing a different number in a different uniform. He's hoping for the best.
“I think it’s obviously going to be mixed reviews, mixed feelings, mixed emotions,” he said. "But for me, it’s always going to be love, man. I spent so much time in this environment. It’s one of the best sports environments to come play in in my opinion and they’ve held true to that. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing the fans that I’ve known for the past 10 years. It's going to be fun.”
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