Steve Nash didn’t need long to land on Indiana when asked which Eastern Conference team, besides the New York Knicks, could get back to the NBA Finals.
“My nostalgia, my sentimentality says the Pacers,” Nash said during an appearance on The Zach Lowe Show. “I would love to see the Pacers.”
The feeling may have started there, but Nash backed it up with a basketball case that centered on three things: Tyrese Haliburton’s recovery, Ivica Zubac’s fit and the return of Indiana’s bench identity.
“First, Hali(burton) needs to be flying by the playoffs, which I think is totally in play for him,” Nash said.
Haliburton’s comeback from the torn Achilles he suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals has become the biggest question hanging over Indiana as the season begins. If he gets back to All-NBA form, the Pacers’ ceiling changes fast.
Indiana also changed the look of its front line by adding Zubac, giving Rick Carlisle a true center with size, rebounding and a stronger interior presence than the team has leaned on in recent years.
“They have to figure out Zu's relationship with the team, which I think is totally in play for them,” Nash said. “I think he's an excellent player and will help them. I', not worried about his spacing issues.”
Nash said Zubac can matter in Indiana’s offense without ever having to stretch the floor to the 3-point line. He pointed to the ways the big man can screen, work in dribble handoffs and create chances for teammates.
The other piece Nash circled was the bench, which helped drive Indiana’s previous postseason surge.
“T.J. McConnell needs to get back to his best,” Nash said.
“And then getting some of these other guys to kind of find their roles as they did. That bench mob was fantastic, how they were able to speed the game up, force turnovers, get in transition.”
That kind of depth and tempo has been central to Indiana’s identity, with Carlisle using pace and pressure to turn games messy for opponents who would rather play slower.
“Who will that be for them going forward?” Nash asked. “In my heart, I would love to see the Indiana Pacers get back to that place.”
From there, Nash widened the lens to what another Finals run would mean for the franchise.
“There is nothing more tragic than (this) underdog story,” Nash said. “Honestly, I think (it's) one of the greatest stories in professional sports, but we don't really talk about it anymore because they lost.”
Indiana had come within one win of its first NBA championship, only for Game 7 to become one of the most painful nights in franchise history.
“They lost in Game 7 where their best player tore his Achilles and made three out of four threes to start the game and some from another area code,” Nash said. “So a very, very, very tragic end for them.”
Lowe then pressed Nash on whether emotion was carrying the pick more than logic.
“Yeah, hopefully my head is in there as well,” Nash responded. “But yeah, they've got some things to prove, I think.”
The road back would not be simple. The East is crowded, and Indiana will have to show Haliburton can return to superstar form, Zubac can raise the team’s ceiling and the supporting cast can rediscover the speed and connection that made the Pacers so hard to stop.
If that happens, the payoff could be massive.
Imagine Haliburton coming back from the Achilles tear suffered on the biggest stage, steering Indiana through a loaded conference and delivering the franchise’s first NBA title two years later.
And the opponent on the other side could make the script even stronger.
Maybe it would be San Antonio, one of the league’s top teams, standing between Indiana and history. Or maybe it would be Oklahoma City again, setting up a chance for Haliburton and the Pacers to settle the score against the same team they couldn’t finish in 2025.
A Pacers-Thunder rematch, with Haliburton healthy and Indiana getting another shot at the ending to Game 7, is the kind of setup that almost writes itself.
Nash’s choice may have been part heart, part head. But if the Pacers ever finish that story, it could go down as one of the most memorable championship runs the NBA has seen.
In Other News...
Tyrese Haliburtons Return Just Hit An Early Pacers Concern
Tyrese Haliburtons long-awaited return to NBA preseason action had the look of an important checkpoint for the Pacers, especially after he had been sidelined for nearly 16 months. The excitement in Indianapolis was easy to understand, with Haliburton back on the floor and the team trying to ease him into game action as it builds toward the regular season.
But the first step back came with a scare when Haliburton picked up a mild right ankle injury, enough for Rick Carlisle to rule him out of the upcoming preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks. The encouraging part for Indiana is that MRI results did not show any serious issue, including anything involving the Achilles, and the team is hoping he can get back to practice Monday and move toward playing again soon. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Get An Early Test Of The Identity That Fueled Them
The preseason matchup with Atlanta offers Indiana a first look at the style that carried it, and the kind of opponent likely to challenge it early. Both teams want to play fast and create offense in transition, but the Pacers are also sorting through roster changes that could reshape how they get there, including the addition of center Ivica Zubac.
Tyrese Haliburton and Trae Young remain the obvious headliners, a pair of playmakers who can turn a loose possession into a track meet in a hurry. The Hawks also have reworked their perimeter mix, giving this game some extra defensive intrigue around how Indiana handles pressure on the outside and whether its usual pace can hold up against a group built to make life harder on the ball. [Read more 🡒]
Haliburton And Zubac Could Decide Indianas New Offensive Ceiling
Tyrese Haliburton is back in Indiana after spending the better part of two years rehabbing an Achilles tear, and his return changes the Pacers offensive conversation immediately. In the meantime, the roster around him has shifted too, with Myles Turner gone and Ivica Zubac now in the fold, giving Indiana a very different kind of frontcourt partner to pair with its point guard.
What makes that fit so interesting is that it is not just about talent, but about whether the two can meet in the middle stylistically. Haliburton has long been at his best when the ball is moving and the floor is open, while Zubac brings a more traditional interior presence, and Indianas next offensive jump may depend on how smoothly those instincts mesh once the games start to matter again. [Read more 🡒]