Boomer is taking Indiana’s reach far beyond the Midwest this week.
The Pacers mascot spent the weekend in Shanghai for a fan party, according to posts on his X account, and Indiana shared video from the trip Thursday morning. One of the highlights from the visit came when fans from ChinaPacers.com joined Boomer to recreate a Tyrese Haliburton celebration, with the mascot asking followers to spot which one was which.
ChinaPacers.com is a Chinese-language fan site founded by Holick Lee, who also hosts an annual gathering. NBA China previously featured the group in a seven-minute documentary in 2020.
Boomer’s trip arrives as NBA programming has filled Shanghai all week. On Aug.
10, NBA China and Shanghai East Asia Sports Culture Center announced the first NBA Shanghai Basketball Festival, a fan carnival running from Aug. 24 through Aug. 30 at Shanghai Xujiahui Sports Park and open free of charge. NBA G League United will also meet the Shanghai Sharks on Aug. 28 and Aug. 30 at Shanghai Indoor Stadium, marking the G League’s first games against a Chinese Basketball Association team.
Shanghai won the 2025-26 CBA title.
For Indiana, the Shanghai stop is another reminder of how the franchise has shown up overseas before. The Pacers last played in the region in 2009, splitting two NBA China Games with the Denver Nuggets.
Indiana won 126-104 on Oct. 8 in Taipei, while Denver answered with a 128-112 win on Oct. 11 in Beijing. This season’s NBA China Games will bring the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets to The Venetian Arena in Macao for preseason games on Oct. 9 and 11.
Haliburton remains a central part of the Pacers’ story, even while he works back from injury. He has not played since June 22, 2025, when he tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City and had surgery the next day.
Indiana went 19-63 without him last season. In 2024-25, he played 73 games and averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 9.2 assists while shooting 47.3% from the field and 38.8% from three, earning All-NBA Third Team honors.
At a media availability at the Pacers’ practice facility on Aug. 12, Haliburton said he would be ready to play if the season started that day.
Indiana’s next international trip is already on the calendar, too. On Nov. 7, the Pacers will face the Nuggets at Arena CDMX in the NBA Mexico City Game 2026, their first regular-season game in Mexico City.
Boomer, for his part, has been part of the Pacers’ identity for a long time. He was introduced before the 1991-92 season, stands 6 feet tall, wears No. 00 and was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2020, a note still featured in his X bio.
The Hall of Fame museum is in Whiting, Indiana, where Boomer was inducted alongside Blue, the Indianapolis Colts’ mascot. The dog mascot Bowser, who appeared with him, retired after the 2009-10 season following eight years of service.
In Other News...
Former Pacers Star Victor Oladipo Makes Emotional NBA Plea
Victor Oladipo is still pushing for one more NBA chance, and this time he took his case directly to the leagues decision-makers. The former Pacers star and two-time All-Star penned an open letter to general managers, laying out his desire to get back on an NBA floor after years of grinding through setbacks and rehab.
For Indiana fans, it is a reminder of how much promise his run once carried, and how much adversity has interrupted it since. Oladipo has endured major injuries, spent last season playing 26 games in the G League, and even staged open tryouts this summer as he keeps searching for a path back, with the latest plea adding another layer to a comeback effort that still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]
Pascal Siakam Just Set The Tone For Indianas Next East Push
Pascal Siakam is already looking past last season and toward what Indiana wants to become next. Ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, the four-time All-Star laid out a competitive mindset built on toughness and aggression, a tone that fits a Pacers roster that has added Ivica Zubac and Kelly Oubre Jr. while waiting for Tyrese Haliburton to return from injury. After averaging 24 points per game last season, Siakam is positioned as one of the defining voices in a group that expects to stay relevant in the East.
For Indiana, the larger question is how all of that fits together once the season starts and the roster gets fully on the floor. Siakams approach suggests the Pacers want more edge, more physicality and more consistency as they try to push further up the Eastern Conference ladder, but the real test will be whether that attitude turns into the kind of nightly identity that travels in April. [Read more 🡒]
Tyrese Haliburton Gives Pacers A Reason To Dream Bigger
Tyrese Haliburtons return is already reshaping the way Indiana talks about next season. Even before he gets back on the floor, the guards standing inside the locker room is obvious, with forward Jay Huff among those praising what Haliburton means to the Pacers after he sat out the previous season because of an Achilles tendon injury. The Pacers have every reason to be thinking ahead, too, after Haliburtons outstanding 2024-25 campaign and the five-year extension he signed in 2023.
Indianas projected starting group underscores how central Haliburton remains to the plan, with Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac expected to join him. The lineup gives the Pacers a real chance to measure their ceiling against the Easts better teams, but the bigger question is how quickly Haliburton can settle back in and reclaim the level that made him such a difference-maker before the injury. [Read more 🡒]