Myles Turner is in his 10th season with the Indiana Pacers, and he believes that’s worth celebrating. He wrote a story for the Players’ Tribune about his NBA journey.
The big man related being unfazed by roster changes early in his career, depression midway through over losing and being the frequent subject of trade rumors, and his recent revitalization.
The Pacers made the Eastern Conference finals last season, and he swears they had a real chance to advance to the NBA Finals despite losing in a sweep. He knows the league takes their move-the-ball-at-breakneck-pace offense seriously after initially dismissing it as a gimmick.
The 29-year-old No. 11 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft pick has career averages of 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots, twice leading the league.
Here are highlights from his article.
Myles Turner on mental health issues
After their 2019-20 season with a playoff sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat in the pandemic bubble, they made a coaching change and had a tumultuous 2020-21 season, missing the playoffs.
“I think it was a combination of different things. First we started losing a lot. Then suddenly my name was popping up in trade rumors a lot — and that’s not even anything bad, you know? Very few guys will ever be good enough at hooping to become an NBA trade asset. That’s a high as hell level to reach. But it definitely took a toll on my mental health. I’d see stuff on social media like, “Myles Turner is a finished product”………. man. Even if I knew it was only basketball talk, it was still hard to keep it basketball-only in my feelings. And maybe that’s dumb when you’re making millions of dollars to play the game you love. But what can I say? I was young and I’m human. And I’m not ashamed to say I got pretty depressed.
“I was journaling around that time, and it’s crazy to look back on some of the entries. Here’s a few excerpts from 2021: This is the lowest I’ve ever been in my entire life. … I don’t know how I’m going to get past this. … Is any of this even worth it??? I don’t want to tell this story like it’s A to B to C, because I don’t think it was. But it’s like all these moments of adversity happened that were just kind of loosely connected … and they added up to this darkness that for a while was tough to get out from.”
Myles Turner on Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle
The Pacers went full rebuild the following season, hiring Rick Carlisle as coach. Though the wins didn’t come immediately, Turner felt revitalized.
“I mean this as a compliment: When Coach Carlisle talks shop, it’s almost like he knows too much ball for a normal conversation. It’s like he’s got all these concepts in his head at once, all this love for the game pouring out every time he says anything, and he gets so passionate it’s like he can’t just settle on any one thought. And I’m the same way. So we started chopping it up about this basic shooting drill, and pretty soon we’re juggling like seven different conversations at the same time, cutting each other off talking about this idea, and this idea, and this idea. It’s almost like a foreign language when you’re talking hoop at that level. And it was such a good feeling, being in the gym with your head coach and being like, Oh, OK………. He speaks the language. He lives for this. He’s one of US.“
Turner wrote the addition of a true point guard with clutch ability lifted Indiana to another level.
“When we traded for Tyrese, I honestly wasn’t that familiar with his game. I think the main thing I knew about him was he had this jump shot that people made fun of. I’d actually suffered a stress reaction in my foot a few weeks before the trade, which put me out for the year. So for Tyrese’s first official season in Indiana, I never even stepped on a court with him. I just watched from the bench.
“But I was extremely impressed. Like, I’m seeing him play with Goga (Bitadze), who is in Orlando now and doing very well for himself by the way. But Goga was 22 at the time, and our third-string center. And here he was with Tyrese, suddenly putting up these wild stat lines, playing out of his mind — while I’m over on the bench, just thinking, I’ve GOTTA get out there. I’ve gotta get out there and play with this dude.“
The NBA All-Star Game was in Indianapolis in 2024, and the WNBA All-Star Game is coming to Indy this year. There’s basketball excitement all year long.
“It’s worth it because of what’s happening in Indiana right now. It’s not only us doing our thing, on our second straight playoff run with this group. But it’s also Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston and them, and they’re the biggest thing in the WNBA at a moment where it’s exploding like crazy. Bro, that’s such an underrated thing about what we have here in Indy. How many cities can say they’ve got one of the most exciting teams in the league in men’s hoops AND women’s hoops — and a fan base who keeps that same energy for both of them?? Maybe it’s us, Minnesota and New York? It’s not a lot of places. So for me, when I think about why it’s so dope what’s happening with the Pacers, it’s about more than the Pacers. It’s about how Indianapolis, Indiana is the basketball capital right now. We really do this in Indy. The game runs through us.”
