'Hardcore Fans' meet Stuart Gray

As Stuart Gray watched Indiana Pacers mascot Boomer venture around College Mall and engage passers-by with handshakes, handstands and photos, the former Pacers center couldn’t help but chuckle at the feline who has been Indiana’s official mascot since 1991.

“Boomer is always fun,” he said.

Gray, Boomer and two members of the Pacemates dance team greeted fans and signed autographs for two hours as part of the mall’s Pacers Fan Event on Saturday.

Gray, a second-round pick of the Pacers in the 1984 draft, said events like Saturday’s autograph session are a great way to stay connected with the team and the fans.

“Indiana fans are ... just hard-core basketball,” he said. “You lose that connection when all of a sudden you retire.”

After five seasons in Indiana, Gray went on to play for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks, but he never had as much emotional attachment for those teams as he had for the Pacers.

“Out of the teams I played for, I loved all of them, but the Pacers were my team,” he said. “I spent the longest here, lived in Indiana forever. I like it. You meet good people.”
Gray described fans like those who attended the event as “the lifeblood” of professional athletes’ careers.

“It’s one of the reasons you play,” he said. “The fans were always good to me. They had to be hard-core fans to support us back then. We needed them.”

He meant it.

The Pacers compiled a 155-255 record during Gray’s five seasons with the team, and thus Gray said he understands Indiana’s trouble with the attendance in recent years — the Pacers have been at or near the bottom of the league in attendance each season since 2007-08.

“Every team will ebb and flow,” he said. “It’s what the management’s commitment is to the team, and the Simons have been great. They may lose some, but the fans will stay with them.

“The Pacers usually do a good job, in my mind, of making certain that the fans know that they’re committed to the community — or, I should say, 
communities.”

Gray said he hasn’t been able to follow the Pacers much in recent seasons because he lives in Lexington, Ky., where the team is not covered.

“I’ll keep in contact with people I know and get snippets,” he said.

However, he said he plans to become much more involved this year.

“This year, I’m going to try to come back some more,” he said. “I’m glad I’m going to be back up in Indianapolis here and there and try to get to some games again.
“They’ll always be in my heart.”