Mike Reynolds keeps a bald head year round, but it gets a fresh shave every Indiana Pacers game day.
Before Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday, he upped the ante on his pre-game ritual by coating his long gray beard with navy blue and gold dye.
Reynolds was decked out in Pacers apparel Thursday night in front of the Tin Roof on South Pennsylvania Street, though an Indianapolis Colts horseshoe tattoo was visible on the back of his neck. No matter the sports team that inhabits Reynolds’ hometown, he’s as diehard as it gets.
Reynolds represented the entire city’s energy, even though the Pacers’ win happened more than 730 miles away in Oklahoma City. While there weren’t many others with dyed beards and shaved heads, just about everyone walking around downtown Indianapolis before tipoff was sporting Pacers gear.
From Meridian Street to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to downtown bars, every Pacers fan seemed to share the same excitement and nerves that come with making the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years. That was hours before they knew All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton was going to hit a last-second shot to give the Pacers an 111-110 win.
‘Dapping you up, giving you knuckles’
When Andrew Frazier was in sixth grade, his social studies teacher instructed the class to complete a project about a historical figure of their choice. Frazier picked the Pacers’ best player at the time, Danny Granger. Granger (2005-2014) was the Pacers’ star during their four-year stretch of missing out on the playoffs and a bench piece when Indiana made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2013.
The day of his presentation, Frazier showed up to class wearing a full Granger uniform, complete with a No. 33 jersey, navy blue basketball shorts and basketball shoes. Now in his 20s, Frazier wore that same Granger jersey to Coaches’ Tavern Thursday night.
Walking down Pennsylvania Street, Frazier got some shoutouts from strangers.
“You see people you’ve never seen in your whole life that are dapping you up and giving you knuckles saying, ‘Go Pacers!’” Frazier said.
Watching the game with his cousin, Chad Ison, the two said they believe their lifelong dedication to the Pacers has paid off. Neither is old enough to remember the 2000 championship.
“We’ve stuck around our whole lives, so I feel like we all deserve this,” Ison said.
Meeting Bennedict Mathurin’s dog
Juan Orta remembers attending Pacers games for free in the late 2000s. As part of a promotion, the Pacers encouraged Indianapolis residents to donate canned goods in exchange for tickets, in hopes that attendance numbers would rise.
Even during Indiana’s dog days, Orta didn’t miss former Pacers All-Star Jermaine O’Neal’s public appearance at the Wheeler-Dowe Boys and Girls Club in 2007. Orta grew up in Fountain Square, and that’s where he spent most of the Pacers’ trip to the NBA Finals—at the Dugout Bar.
Nearly 20 years later, Orta still feels like Pacers players are his neighbors rather than inaccessible superstars.
He’s even bumped into current Pacers’ guard Bennedict Mathurin in his neighborhood.
“He’s got a dog named Hank,” Orta said. “I see him walking Hank all the time. He stops by, talks to all the guys and hangs out here.”
NBA Finals schedule
- Game 2: Sunday, June 8 at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.
- Game 3: Wednesday, June 11 at Indianapolis, 8:30 p.m.
- Game 4: Friday, June 13 at Indianapolis, 8:30 p.m.
- Game 5: Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m.*
- Game 6: Thursday, June 19 at Indianapolis, 8:30 p.m.*
- Game 7: Sunday, June 22 at OKC, 8 p.m.*
* If necessary.
His most memorable moment at a Pacers game came in January 2014 when former All-Star Paul George threw down a 360-windmill slam dunk against the Los Angeles Clippers. Orta saw that iconic moment from the nosebleeds, but he was just thankful to see his favorite team in person.
While wearing a throwback Reggie Miller jersey and sipping a Miller High Life out of the bottle, Orta continued spouting off memories he has connected to his city’s team. After a while, Orta began to see a correlation between the at-times overlooked 2024-25 Pacers and his hometown itself.
“If you’re sitting at home with nothing to do, it’s because you don’t want to do anything,” Orta said. “This city is so alive; there’s no better place to be than Indianapolis.”
Dugout server: “Here on my day off’
Loni Cooper was one of more than 15 servers working at the Dugout Bar Thursday, and if she had any fears of being overwhelmed by what was sure to be a long, busy night, she didn’t show it.
That comes with more than 10 years of experience at the Dugout, but Cooper said she has never seen Fountain Square as passionate as during the Pacers’ current playoff run.
Cooper is normally scheduled four times per week at the Dugout, twice holding managerial duties and twice serving. Normally.
“I’m actually here on my day off,” she said.
In preparation for the Pacers’ NBA Finals berth, the Dugout increased staff and security and stocked more drinks. They even bought two 100-inch televisions to set up on the patio, so more fans could watch the game.
By 6:30 p.m, the Dugout was at capacity. Cooper said the bar quadrupled its normal game-night sales even during the first series of this playoff run.
Although Dugout regulars and diehard Pacers fans like Michael Adams, Cesare Manning and Duane Bean don’t get this rowdy, Cooper has seen many other fans take their celebration to the extreme as the Pacers ascend to the NBA history books.
“People take their shirts off, stand on top of the tables and wave them around,” Cooper said.
Evan Sherrill. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Andrew Sanderson does the choke gesture originally done by Reggie Miller and recently bought back by Tyrese Halliburton. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Duane Bean. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy 
Avelyn and Percy Gatewood. Credit: Nate Pappas for Mirror Indy
Mom and son: ‘Yes ‘Cers’
Daniela Gathright and her son, Michael, aren’t the type of fans to cause a scene at their local bar, but their shirts did symbolize an equally important part of fandom. They walked into Coaches wearing matching gold T-shirts that sported the Pacers’ slogan, “Yes ‘Cers.”
Together, they’ve watched every game of the Pacers’ playoff run. While it’s one thing to prioritize bonding time at a family member’s home, it’s another to travel to different Indy restaurants and bars for each game. Thursday it was Coaches; other nights it has been O’Reilly’s Irish Bar, Brothers Bar & Grill or Buffalo Wild Wings.
“We can watch it at home, but it’s different just to hear the place erupt,” Daniela said.
Because Michael is set to become a father soon, he’s spending as much of the Pacers’ playoff experience with his mother as possible. It doesn’t matter the location for the Gathrights, as long as they’re watching together.
A fan-turned-headline writer
Rachel Petersson was sitting alone at a table in Coaches about an hour before tipoff. While waiting for two friends, she read a book that she pulled out of her hand-knit purse.
Don’t let the appearance fool you; she’s just as big of a Pacers fan as anyone. But it wasn’t always that way. Although her older brother, Tristan, has always rooted on the blue and gold, Rachel didn’t fall in love with the sport until watching Indiana University’s women’s basketball as a student in Bloomington.
From there, her love for the Hoosier state’s favorite pastime extended to the Pacers, and she hasn’t looked back. Petersson hasn’t missed a second of the Pacers’ playoff run, starting when she went with Tristan to the first game of the 2025 playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse April 19.
That night, every fan in attendance got a free “Gold Out” T-shirt with the name of every player surrounding the center logo. Since then, Rachel has worn hers almost every playoff game. She believes that when she wears the shirt, the Pacers have a better chance at victory.
Rachel said she can identify with every member of this Pacers’ team, which is why if she were writing the newspaper headline for a potential Pacers NBA Championship win, it would read: “The Power of Friendship.”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Kyle Smedley was an Indianapolis Press Club Foundation fellow working this summer with Mirror Indy. You can follow him on X @KyleSmedley03.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
