Lance Stephenson has been through the wringer to finally be the face of the Indiana Pacers. After being drafted by the team in 2010 and playing his way to a starter role in 2014, the Brooklynite was well on his way to an extension and growing into his role, but ultimately chose to part ways with the organization.
Three years later, he received that chance again after splitting two different six game stints with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“‘Hey, Lance … you ready?,’” the 6-foot-5 shooting guard recalled a phone call after dangling on the waiver wire.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m Born Ready. Don’t every ask me am I ready.’ So I got the call and I’m like, ‘I’m going back home?’ I was so excited.”
The 26-year-old has already lost six pounds and plans to lose another seven before the start of the season, to be a leaner, meaner version of his self during last season.
“I’m almost there,” he told Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. “The game is changing. Everybody is quick, everybody is explosive running up and down. The game has definitely changed and I need to fit into that category.”
Even those outside the locker room could feel the difference the recent journeyman has in Indiana.
“When Lance came back last year at the end of the season, he really gave a jolt of energy not just to the team, but also to the fan base,” Todd Taylor, the Chief Marketing Officer of the Pacers, said. “I think it’s interesting, there were differentiating opinions from both sides earlier on, but I think like all of us in like, when you have a little bit of perspective and distance, you find out that this is where you should have been all along. We love the edge that he brings, the energy. He’s been great in the community, he’s been great for us.”
Yet Stephenson will need more than just the chants of the crowd to get back to his 2014 form. The Cincinnati product played a somewhat limited role with the team during the last six games of the season, averaging 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game in 22 minutes per outing.
During 35.3 minutes per game as a solidified starter, Lance Stephenson put up 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the floor — a line he should likely near to vindicate the hopes of Pacers aficionados.
“When your teammates believe in you and the organization believes in you, the game becomes easy,” Stephenson said after signing a three-year deal to return. “…When you got a coach that is behind you and an organization that is behind you like that, you get your confidence back.”
“During the whole process, all of the Pacers fans were like, “Man, forget that team. Come here.’ So the whole time, Pacers fans were on me. ‘You’re going to come back, don’t worry. Just get through this year, you’ll come back.
“And I’m here.”
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