Over the past couple of seasons, the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks have been developing a bit of a rivalry. The rivalry kind of took route when the Pacers defeated the Bucks in the inaugural in-season tournament when Tyrese Haliburton used Damian Lillard’s ‘Dame Time’ celebration. It crescendoed when Giannis Antetokounmpo angrily confronted several members of the Pacers during his search for the game ball after a record-setting performance. And recently, Andrew Nembhard added to that with comments about Myles Turner’s departure to the Bucks.
Myles Turner left the Pacers this offseason during free agency and signed with the Buck in a stunning move. The signing was made possible due to the Bucks opting to waive Lillard. Myles Turner essentially joined the opposition, but Andrew Nembhard explained how he’s still fond of his old teammate, to an extent, during a recent appearance on the ‘Hello and Welcome’ podcast.
“I mean, at the end of the day, I want to see him do well, you know? Glad he got paid, and wishing him success in the future. . .not against us. But for himself,” Nembhard said. “I think it just builds into the rivalry that we already got going. It’s going to be an exciting matchup this year. It’s going to get even better than before – now that we’re not on the same team anymore.”
With the Pacers losing Haliburton for essentially the entirety of the 2025-26 season after his Achilles injury in the NBA Finals, Nembhard is one player the team will count on to help keep the Pacers afloat.
The No. 31 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Nembhard turned in a career season last year. During the Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals, he averaged 12.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals with splits of 47.1 percent shooting from the field, 46.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 80.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
