Danny Granger Appreciation Thread
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:17 pm
I have mixed feelings about this trade; on one hand, I do think Evan Turner probably brings more to this team right now than Granger could. But on the other hand... wow. Wow.
Danny Granger was THE FACE of the Pacers from about 2007 through 2012. He's the one link between the JO/Artest era and the Hibbert/George era. Drafted mere months after Reggie retired, he was the fresh face post-brawl who brought hope to a team that knew it was decimated.
He played with JO, Artest, Foster, Tinsley, Jackson. He played with Stojakovic, Dunleavy, Murphy, and the rest. He played with PG, Roy, West, and Hill.
8 seasons of solid sportsmanship, effort, and leadership. Many a player would have crumbled under the mantle of being the man on a massively rebuilding team, but Danny Granger did not complain, or ask to be traded, or get in arguments with teammates over shots or anything like that.
He played ball. He played hard, he played with toughness, and he played with a grown up steadiness that was needed so badly after the crazy ones (artest, jackson tinsley) and the **** ones (ike diogu! marquis daniels!) and then to lead the young ones.
My single most enduring memory of Granger will be in the first home game of the 2008 season. The start of his 4th season, coming off complete roster overhaul, with an uncertain future, the Pacers had given Granger a 60 million dollar contract extension. (Many laughed at it, but Granger would go on to be the league's 5th-leading scorer that season, averaging 25/5/2/1/1.)
November 1st, 2008, the World Champion Boston Celtics came to town for the home opener, and the Pacers beat the **** out of them. Granger played so hard that in a scuffle with Paul Pierce, his two front teeth got straight smashed out.
He's gone, after 8 years yet seemingly so suddenly, just as it seemed he would see the Pacers all the way to the mountain top. The culmination of his 8 years with the team would finally result in a championship, albeit no longer as the star.
Alas, the cruel nature of our world shows how easily it can all be taken from you. The only team Danny Granger has ever played for in the NBA; the only basketball home he has had for the last 8 years; the team that he saw go from playoffs to poverty and back to power.
No longer his team. He has been traded.
But Danny Granger will always be our guy, for he was there for the highs and the lows; he was there in the worst of times, and there in the best of times. He may never again put on a Pacers jersey, but his imprint will forever be on the Pacers; and no matter what other team or teams he joins, history will remember him as a Pacer, and the fans of Indiana will remember him as the one man who, amidst all the aftermath and destruction and rebuilding and struggle, was always there to give it his all and play Pacers basketball.
So here's to Danny Granger. The 6th all-time points leader in Indiana Pacers NBA history. 7th all-time Pacers leader in blocks. 7th all-time Pacers leader in steals. 2nd all-time in Pacers 3-point field goals, behind only Reggie.
Give it up for number 33; he will be missed, but not forgotten. If ever he finds himself on a spot on some contender as a vet, root a little bit for that team; they've got a Pacer on the court.
Danny Granger was THE FACE of the Pacers from about 2007 through 2012. He's the one link between the JO/Artest era and the Hibbert/George era. Drafted mere months after Reggie retired, he was the fresh face post-brawl who brought hope to a team that knew it was decimated.
He played with JO, Artest, Foster, Tinsley, Jackson. He played with Stojakovic, Dunleavy, Murphy, and the rest. He played with PG, Roy, West, and Hill.
8 seasons of solid sportsmanship, effort, and leadership. Many a player would have crumbled under the mantle of being the man on a massively rebuilding team, but Danny Granger did not complain, or ask to be traded, or get in arguments with teammates over shots or anything like that.
He played ball. He played hard, he played with toughness, and he played with a grown up steadiness that was needed so badly after the crazy ones (artest, jackson tinsley) and the **** ones (ike diogu! marquis daniels!) and then to lead the young ones.
My single most enduring memory of Granger will be in the first home game of the 2008 season. The start of his 4th season, coming off complete roster overhaul, with an uncertain future, the Pacers had given Granger a 60 million dollar contract extension. (Many laughed at it, but Granger would go on to be the league's 5th-leading scorer that season, averaging 25/5/2/1/1.)
November 1st, 2008, the World Champion Boston Celtics came to town for the home opener, and the Pacers beat the **** out of them. Granger played so hard that in a scuffle with Paul Pierce, his two front teeth got straight smashed out.
He's gone, after 8 years yet seemingly so suddenly, just as it seemed he would see the Pacers all the way to the mountain top. The culmination of his 8 years with the team would finally result in a championship, albeit no longer as the star.
Alas, the cruel nature of our world shows how easily it can all be taken from you. The only team Danny Granger has ever played for in the NBA; the only basketball home he has had for the last 8 years; the team that he saw go from playoffs to poverty and back to power.
No longer his team. He has been traded.
But Danny Granger will always be our guy, for he was there for the highs and the lows; he was there in the worst of times, and there in the best of times. He may never again put on a Pacers jersey, but his imprint will forever be on the Pacers; and no matter what other team or teams he joins, history will remember him as a Pacer, and the fans of Indiana will remember him as the one man who, amidst all the aftermath and destruction and rebuilding and struggle, was always there to give it his all and play Pacers basketball.
So here's to Danny Granger. The 6th all-time points leader in Indiana Pacers NBA history. 7th all-time Pacers leader in blocks. 7th all-time Pacers leader in steals. 2nd all-time in Pacers 3-point field goals, behind only Reggie.
Give it up for number 33; he will be missed, but not forgotten. If ever he finds himself on a spot on some contender as a vet, root a little bit for that team; they've got a Pacer on the court.
