The 2001-2002 Indiana Pacers were one of the best three-and-D teams in league history. While the team failed to conquer any serious silverware, Ron Sandiford Artest believes that the 2002 version of the team was unstoppable, even by today’s standards.
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Appearing on the All Facts No Brakes podcast hosted by fellow New Yorker Keyshawn Johnson, Artest spilled the beans behind the trade that landed him in Indiana after getting drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1999. Talking about it, Artest said,
“It was weird when they gave up some of the players I was like man! I knew I was working on my game, and I knew what people didn’t see was, I was locking a lot of people up rookie year.”
.@MettaWorld37 doesn’t see any team in the NBA beating the 2003 Indiana Pacers 👀 pic.twitter.com/xJ9J3aMCOF
— All Facts No Brakes (@AllFactsPod) June 26, 2024
Ron Artest was confident in his skills and even won his first Defensive Player of The Year award during his stint with Indy. But it wasn’t even in playoff contention when he first joined the team mid-way through the 2002-2003 season.
However, once Metta World Peace arrived, Indiana started clicking like never before. The team won five straight to finalize a matchup against the Nets in the first round on the’02 payoffs.
Unfortunately, the series would come down to the last game, where the eventual conference champions Nets, beat out a newly formed squad in Indiana. But looking back, a 44-year-old Artest feels like the 2002 squad was elite, even adding that,
“That team was one of the great teams. I don’t see a lot of teams in the NBA beating that team…We all can shoot, and everybody playing defense.”
The five-man squad that Indiana put on the floor during the 2002 NBA playoffs was undoubtedly one of the best. With Reggie Miller and Jermaine O’Neal already establishing themselves as bonafide all-stars, the addition of defensive anchors like Artest and Jamal Tinsley made it hard for teams to penetrate without turning the ball over.
The team played hard and physical ball, and if it weren’t for the heavily stacked Nets, Indiana would have represented the East that year.
