Lance Stephenson hadn't gotten around to telling his eight-year-old daughter, Liara, that he was rejoining the Pacers yet. But she knew.
"She's like, 'Daddy, did you know you're back on the Pacers?!'" Stephenson recalled Friday when he met with the media on the practice court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. "When she found out, she went crazy?"
How did she find out?
"I don't know," Stephenson said. "Kids are on the internet now."
A lot of people have been going crazy on the internet, adults included, about Stephenson's return to the Pacers. It's been an amazing reaction to a player who was controversial in his first chapter with the franchise, and failed to get a grip on his game while playing for five teams since abruptly departing in free agency three years ago.
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Online polls show nearly 70 percent of Pacers' fans are happy to have him back, many of them enthusiastically so. In-person conversation makes it obvious Stephenson is equally happy to be back, to begin the resurrection of his once-promising career.
No question, absence has made the heart grow fonder on both sides. What used to be regarded as "antics" on Stephenson's part are now more likely viewed as bravado. What he used to regard as the norm among fan environments has now been revealed as more the exception than the norm.
A love affair has been rekindled.
"I feel like the fans enjoy me," Stephenson said. "I love the fans. I fed off the fans. When the fans got hyped, that made me want to go out there and...there wasn't a game where I felt, 'Oh, man, we've got a game today.' The fans push you and they're so into the game, they make me want to be ready for every game on the schedule."
Pacers president Larry Bird has kept in touch with Stephenson since Stephenson's attorney declined the Pacers' contract offer in the summer of 2014, especially the last couple of years. Stephenson wanted to return last summer, when he was a free agent, but Bird didn't feel the timing was right. The two have talked throughout this season as well, and the plan was to address it this summer.
Rodney Stuckey's season-ending injury created an opening in the backcourt, however. Glenn Robinson III's calf strain widened the opening. Suddenly, with the Pacers able to release Stuckey without being liable for the final year of his contract, the timing seemed perfect for Stephenson's return.
"We talked all the time" Stephenson said of his communication with Bird. "The first year when I left we weren't talking as much, but as the years went by we kept in contact - not just about basketball, but life situations. He's always been around and guided me through the years.
"I'm just happy to be here now. I feel it's all about timing and this is the best time to come in and help this group. Me coming now and helping this group will be even more exciting."
That's because this group is badly in need of an injection of adrenaline, energy, confidence and other qualities Stephenson can bring. Blowing in LeBron's ear wouldn't seem like such a bad thing now, would it?
The thing is, Stephenson is far less likely to do something like that today. He's no longer trying to attract attention or make a marketing name for himself, he's just trying to reestablish himself as an NBA player.
He's clearly matured since his departure, based on Friday's conversation. He says he's a better defender and decision-maker on the court, but more importantly he comes across as more mature and more grounded. Playing for five teams in two seasons will do that to a player.
"I've been with so many teams, it feels like seven years ago," Stephenson said of his last season with the Pacers.
Perhaps, then, he's seven years older in his outlook, but only three years older — and just 26 years old — as a player. Stephenson has learned what many NBA players have learned, including some former Pacers: don't mess with a good situation.
It's extremely difficult to get with the right team at the right time, and even if your role or contract aren't quite to your liking, it's probably better to stay put. Stephenson was a starter and nearly an All-Star on a team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014, and appeared set to contend for a few more years.
"Me going through that season showed me that certain situations are not for everyone," Stephenson said. "You have to be in the right situation to succeed. I feel like I'm back in a good situation and I feel like this organization believes in me. I just have to come out fighting.
"I feel you go through all that stuff for a reason. It makes you stronger, makes you smarter, and it humbles you at the same time. All this stuff I've been through was for a reason, and now I'm back home."
He's back home, but alone this time. During his first four seasons with the Pacers, Stephenson lived with his parents and younger brother, Lantz. They provided comfort and stability at a time when he had never been away from home, other than one year at the University of Cincinnati. Now, they live in Las Vegas. He'll live on his own.
"I'm a big boy now," he said.
Stephenson has made another change that is relevant to his comeback. He hired Mark Bartelstein — one of the more respected NBA agents — as his representative. But even with Bartelstein's help, he had given up on playing again this season. He was back in New York, staying close to his daughter and working out, when Bartelstein called to tell him about the Pacers' interest.
"When I got the call, I'm like, 'Are you serious right now? Pacers? I'm going back home?' It was a great feeling," Stephenson said.
Bird gave Stephenson a contract through the end of this season and all of next season, with a team option for the following season. That will allow Stephenson some security, more than he's had since Charlotte traded him to the Clippers in the summer of 2015, and help him feel more relaxed and confident.
Now the question becomes what feeling Stephenson can generate in a moribund Pacers team that finds itself in a fight to maintain a playoff spot. It's a team that needs his attitude. He said Friday he doesn't know any of the current Pacers other than former teammates Paul George, Lavoy Allen, and Al Jefferson (in Charlotte), because "if you're not my teammate, I'm not a friendly player. If you're not my teammate I'm not saying what's up to you."
Stephenson has recognized that from afar, as has everyone else who has watched the Pacers.
"I think they're missing that energy and never-bowing-down-to-anyone player," he said.
Now they have one.
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