Tamika Catchings

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2021 Jr. Hoops Tour: Day 2

Wheat Hotchkiss

2020 All-Star Weekend is officially underway in Chicago. It's only Friday, but it has already been a very eventful weekend for the Indianapolis contingent.

On Friday morning, Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis led Chicago Public School students in a Jr. NBA Clinic at Navy Pier as part of the fifth annual Jr. NBA Day.

Sabonis led the students in basketball drills and offered them instruction, something that hit close to home. It wasn't too long ago that the 23-year-old Sabonis was a kid himself, looking up to his father Arvydas and his teammates on the Portland Trail Blazers.

PHOTOS: Domantas Sabonis at 2020 All-Star Weekend »

"I know how much it meant to me to want to be a basketball player," Sabonis said.

"The most important thing is to see the big smiles on their faces."

Then on Friday afternoon, Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings was named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Catchings is one of four players that were named as finalists for the Class of 2020 and the only WNBA player to receive the honor this year.

Joining Catchings as finalists are Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett as well as coaches Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton, and Rudy Tomjanovich. The Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Announcement will take place on April 4 at the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta, Ga. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Class of 2020 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass. from Aug. 28-30.

It was the second significant honor for Catchings this week, as she was chosen on Monday for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, where she will be inducted on June 13. Catchings spent her entire 14-year career with the Fever, where she was a 10-time WNBA All-Star, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, the 2011 WNBA MVP and the 2012 WNBA Finals MVP.

"This far exceeds anything I ever thought," Catchings said about Friday's announcement. "It's a blessing when I think about my beginning and think about a little girl with a hearing disability and not really what it would take and where I would go – but sports becoming my avenue in my life to be able to go to different levels and branch outside of my comfort zone.

"I'm just so thankful for basketball. I'm thankful for all my teammates and fans and coaches and teachers and all the people along the way that helped me get to where I am today."

The moment was also bittersweet for Catchings because of the recent tragic passing of Bryant, whom she has known since childhood. Their fathers — Harvey Catchings and Joe Bryant — played professionally in Italy when Tamika and Kobe were young and they remained friends as they both ascended to the pinnacle of their sport. Both players spent their entire career with one franchise and won league championships and Olympic gold medals before retiring in 2016 and having their number 24 jerseys retired by their respective organizations.

Both were known as relentless competitors who left everything on the court every night they played.

"To be with this class, to be with (Kobe)...it's truly amazing," Catchings said. "When I think of us, what we both have in common is having that mentality not just on the court, but in our lives."

On Friday night, Pacers center Myles Turner tried his hand at broadcasting, working as a commentator alongside Brian Anderson and fellow NBA star Donovan Mitchell for the Rising Stars Game at the United Center.

Turner proved adept at the job, offering insight into the young stars in the NBA as well as a number of other topics.

When discussing rookie sensation Zion Williamson's recovery from knee surgery, Turner brought up Pacers All-Star Victor Oladipo's recent return from a year-long absence with a ruptured quad tendon.

"Victor's mindset is what got him through that whole process," Turner said. "He attacked it every day, he kept a positive mindset...the league is a much better league with Victor Oladipo back in it."

Turner also put in a good word for Indianapolis, which is set to host All-Star Weekend next year.

"I think people need to give Indy a shot, you can only hear so much about it," he said. "Once you're there, you're enriched in a great basketball environment."

But the highlight of the night came just before halftime, when Turner somehow predicted Luka Dončić's halfcourt shot in the closing seconds. The clip speaks for itself:

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2020 All-Star Friday: A Jr. NBA Clinic and Hall of Fame Announcement

2019 Jr. Pacers Hoops Tour: Riverside Regional Park

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On Tuesday, the Indianapolis Star unveiled the final results of its annual "Best Things in Indy" list, which was created with the help of over 175,000 votes from readers.

Pacers Sports & Entertainment was featured prominently in the final results of Best Things Indy 2018, notching four selections in "Best Things you do and see" category.

Victor Oladipo collected the award for Best Current Indy Athlete, following his All-Star campaign with the Pacers in which he was named the NBA's Most Improved Player.

As a venue, Bankers Life Fieldhouse was named the Best Sports Fan Experience by readers, a testament to its atmosphere during Pacers and Fever games.

For Best Mascot, Boomer beat out the pack, winning the award thanks to his acrobatics and fan-friendly antics.

And lastly, Fever legend and current PS&E Director of Player Programs & Franchise Development Tamika Catchings was honored with the award of Best Human in Indianapolis, a nod to both her exemplary basketball career as well as her humanitarian efforts off the court with the Catch the Stars Foundation.

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Oladipo Named Best Current Indy Athlete

Basketball legend Tamika Catchings has received countless honors and awards over the course of her career. But on Tuesday morning at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Catchings was honored in a new way, as the museum unveiled a bronze statue of the four-time Olympic gold medalist.

"I've never had a statue, maybe a couple drawings from some kids, but this is absolutely amazing," Catchings said.

Catchings was one of 16 sports legends honored with a statue as part of the Sports Legends Avenue of Champions, a series of sculptures displayed throughout the new outdoor Sports Legends Experience, which opened in March.

In addition to Catchings, three other basketball icons with ties to Pacers Sports & Entertainment were emblazoned in bronze.

Hall of Fame sharpshooter Reggie Miller shares a statue with Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster Bobby "Slick" Leonard, a fitting tribute as Leonard's "Boom Baby!" call after a Pacers 3-pointer became synonymous with Miller, who made 2,560 threes in his 18-year career.

Another statue features the great Larry Bird, who starred at Indiana State before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the Boston Celtics, then later returned to his home state to coach the Pacers and later lead the front office. To date, Bird is the only person in NBA history to win the Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year awards.

"It's a remarkable day," Pacers Sports & Entertainment President/COO Rick Fuson said. "To see these great likenesses of all these friends that I've known over the years, it's heartwarming for me."

Catchings was on hand for the unveiling of her statue on Tuesday, accompanied by a large contingent of family members.

"In my career, what has been really important is my (Catch the Stars) Foundation and working with kids," Catchings said. "It's kind of fitting to have a statue at the Children's Museum. Thousands, millions, billions of kids will eventually come through this place."

Catchings said she actually visited the Sports Legends Experience with her family on Saturday. Her nephews played on all the different sports exhibits and Catchings even joined in on a few.

"This place is awesome," Catchings said. "I'm like a big kid, too. I got out there, did some stuff on the soccer field and hit a couple tennis balls."

The other legends honored with statues include basketball star Oscar Robertson, longtime Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne, soccer star DaMarcus Beasley, racing legend A.J. Foyt Jr., three members of the Indianapolis Clowns Negro League team (Hank Aaron, Marcenia Lyle "Toni" Stone, and Mamie "Peanut" Johnson), golf architects Alice and Pete Dye, hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, track legend Wilma Rudolph, and longtime tennis coach Barbara Wynne.

Created specifically for the Avenue of Champions, the sculptures are also the newest additions to the NAMOS collection (the National Art Museum of Sport). NAMOS features a group of more than 1,000 artworks focused on recreational and professional athletics within the Sports Legends Experience. By learning about the lives and achievements of these legends, visitors will be inspired to work hard and stay healthy, to set goals and share dreams.

"Many of these legends confronted obstacles in their lives - poverty, racism, physical disabilities - yet they persevered, driven by a resolve to do the best they could despite what stood in their way," said Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, president and CEO, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. "The Museum wants visitors to understand that legends don't become legends the easy way - they take the lessons they learn from mistakes, failures and their passions and apply them to everything they do."

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Statues Honor Four Basketball Icons from Pacers Sports & Entertainment

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game may still be three years away, but preparations for the weekend are already well underway.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced on Dec. 13 that the league chose Indianapolis to host its 70th All-Star Game, the first time the event will be held in the Circle City since 1985. In the ensuing months, Indianapolis leaders have joined forces to create the 2021 NBA All-Star Local Organizing Committee to plan for hosting the NBA's signature event.

Pacers Sports & Entertainment President and COO Rick Fuson serves as chairman of the committee. The four co-chairs of the committee are Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever legend and current PS&E Director of Player Programs and Franchise Development), Cindy Simon Skjodt (philanthropist and niece of Pacers owner Herb Simon), Aasif Bade (President of Ambrose Property Group), and Rafael Sanchez (President and CEO of Indianapolis Power & Light Company).

That group headed to Los Angeles this weekend to observe and participate in All-Star festivities, gathering insight as they prepare for Indianapolis' turn as host city. Steve Simon and other members of the Local Organizing Committee joined them on the trip.

A similar contingent attended All-Star festivities in Toronto in 2016 and New Orleans in 2017 as the Pacers prepared their bid to the league. The newly-formed committee will also have a presence in Charlotte next year and Chicago in 2020.

"Everybody does things a little bit differently," Fuson said. "And everything that we can pick up — when it comes to signage or some hospitality thing that they do or the transportation or how they treat people in the hotels — it makes it a little easier for us to say, 'Okay, let's elevate to that program' or 'Let's beat it by one more step.'"

No one played a more important role in Indianapolis being awarded the 2021 All-Star Game than Herb Simon. As the NBA's longest-tenured owner, Simon was the driving force behind the franchise deciding to bid on the game.

Pacers co-owner Steve Simon said it was especially important for his father to get the NBA "to shine a light on the city of Indianapolis" after all the city has done for him.

The Simon family continues to play an active role in the planning process for 2021.

"There's incredible excitement, but it's also nerve-wracking, too, because every year at the All-Star Game, the bar is raised higher and higher," Steve Simon said.

"We do big events as well as anyone, so I think we're all confident we're going to raise the bar and bring an incredible event with great activation and great energy. But there's a lot of work left to do."

Fuson said he considers his four co-chairs a "dream team," with each member bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge from a variety of backgrounds.

Simon Skjodt, for instance, worked side-by-side with Fuson when Indianapolis last hosted the All-Star Game in 1985. Much like the city of Indianapolis, the event has grown tremendously over the past three decades, but the lessons learned from that experience still can provide value.

"I think the key is to have really good people," Simon Skjodt said.

That description most certainly applies to Catchings, who herself is no stranger to All-Star Weekend, having represented the Fever and the WNBA in a number of All-Star events over the years.

That experience has allowed Catchings to share insight about what makes for a good host city. She learned firsthand just how exhausting the weekend can be for players, who have numerous commitments between the All-Star events, media obligations, sponsorship appearances, and community service events.

In Catchings' opinion, Indianapolis is naturally a perfect fit with a compact and walkable downtown area, with most of the major hotels, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Indiana Convention Center, and Lucas Oil Stadium separated by a half-mile or less.

Serving on this committee is a new role for Catchings, one of several committee members who Fuson said represent "a new generation of leaders in our town."

"I'm extremely excited to be representing Pacers Sports & Entertainment and the Fever and the Pacers," Catchings said. "It's not just NBA All-Star, the WNBA and the G League will be represented, as well. I think that's where my level of excitement is, being able to join forces with all of our organizations and put on a show."

This was the first time Sanchez attended All-Star Weekend, but he's no stranger to putting on big events. Sanchez served on the Indianapolis Super Bowl host committee in 2012, an experience that he said helps him "understand the big picture" of all it takes to host a major sports event.

For Sanchez, spending time in Los Angeles has provided invaluable insights into understanding everything that goes into hosting the All-Star Game.

"There's no substitute to seeing and participating and doing it yourself to just kind of visualize how would this work in Indianapolis," Sanchez said.

Bade, another first-time All-Star attendee, marveled at the scope of what transpires at the annual basketball showcase.

The committee attended numerous events while in Los Angeles, including the NBA Cares Day of Service at the LA Regional Food Bank, the Rising Stars Challenge, the Newsmaker Breakfast, All-Star Media Day and Practice, All-Star Saturday Night, the Legends Brunch, and the All-Star Game.

"Obviously as a fan, you're aware of the three or four things that are on TV," Bade said. "But I've been amazed in terms of all of the things going on behind the scenes and the reach that the NBA has…It's unbelievable the reach of the NBA and the WNBA. That's probably been the most eye-opening part."

When they return to Indianapolis, the committee members will compare notes from their time in Los Angeles and continue formulating a vision for what Indianapolis can do to push the envelope in 2021. But each member expressed extreme confidence in the city's ability to put on a great show, citing a long and successful history of hosting major events, including the 2012 Super Bowl and numerous Final Fours.

In fact, the 2021 All-Star Game will be part of a remarkable run for downtown Indianapolis, which in a 13-month span will host two Big Ten football championship games (in Dec. 2020 and 2021), the NBA All-Star Game (Feb. 2021), the Big Ten women's basketball tournament (March 2021), the NCAA men's Final Four (April 2021), and the College Football Playoff National Championship Game (Jan. 2022).

"It's embedded in our DNA," Sanchez said. "I think families come out and support it, they get behind it. People want to volunteer. There's all kinds of public/private partnerships.

"There's so much tremendous opportunity and I think it's just embedded at this point in the Indianapolis culture to put on high-caliber events with exceptional customer service and exceptional engagement from people from all backgrounds. It's what makes our city great."

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Indianapolis Committee Attends All-Star Weekend to Gather Insights for 2021

INDIANAPOLIS – A four-time Olympic gold medalist and 16-year WNBA superstar with the Indiana Fever, Tamika Catchings has been named Director of Player Programs and Franchise Development with Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Catchings' position will include participation with all three PS&E basketball franchises – the Indiana Pacers, the Indiana Fever and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Catchings' presence adds enhanced value to career and community programming which already exists with the Pacers, and her addition will help install new programs with the Fever and Mad Ants. She will serve as a bridge while helping maintain program continuity for all three franchises.

Catchings will aid with structure and implementation of player development programs, player relations and community outreach. Programs for the Fever and Mad Ants will be designed to build chemistry and continuity among players, assist each franchise in recruiting free agents, and help with leadership development and professional skills for all players. As an additional resource for all teams, the newly created position expands Pacers Sports & Entertainment's ability to educate and prepare players for their post-playing careers.

She will assist with community outreach programs for all three franchises, and will work one-on-one with individual players on speaking and presentation skills, and the development of athlete foundations or other business interests. A longtime president of the WNBA player's association, Catchings also will assist in the planning and execution of league, NBAPA and WNBAPA meetings, and other team and player programming.

Widely regarded for her own community work and professional leadership as a player, Catchings is uniquely qualified for her new position. She joined the Indiana franchise in 2001 when she was the club's first-round draft selection – just one year after the Fever was established. As a face of the Fever franchise through 16 seasons, she has been a constant ambassador and respected representative of the NBA, WNBA and Pacers Sports & Entertainment throughout her career.

More than a basketball player, Catchings has routinely earned distinction as one of the nation's finest citizen-athletes with committed community engagement throughout the country and even internationally. In 2015, she was inaugural winner of the ESPN Sports Humanitarian of the Year. Last summer, she became the first two-time recipient of the WNBA's Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award and the first three-time winner of the WNBA's Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award. Last November, she was honored in consecutive weeks with the Pathfinder Award by the Indiana Sports Corporation, honoring those who improve the lives of America's youth; and the Musial Award by the St. Louis Sports Commission, for extraordinary sportsmanship.

The 37-year old Catchings matched an Olympic basketball record for men or women while earning her fourth Olympic gold medal last summer. The 12-time All-WNBA recipient and 10-time WNBA All-Star helped lead the Fever to a league-record 12 consecutive playoff appearances, 13 overall. The 2011 league MVP and 2012 Finals MVP, she is the leading rebounder in WNBA history, and its No. 2 all-time scorer. She was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year an unprecedented five times.

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Tamika Catchings Joins PS&E as Director of Player Programs & Franchise Development

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Pacers star, Olympic gold medalist and three-time NBA All-Star Paul George has bolstered franchise efforts to honor legendary WNBA star and fellow Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings with the purchase of 5,000 balcony seats to Catchings' final regular season game, Sunday, Sept. 18. Catchings and the Indiana Fever host the Dallas Wings in a regular season finale Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. In an effort to pack the house and cap Catchings' career with a hopeful sellout crowd, complimentary tickets will be distributed to fans on Friday afternoon at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Box Office.

Fans may collect up to a maximum four tickets per person beginning at noon on Friday at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Box Office. Lower Level and Krieg DeVault Club Level tickets also are available for purchase at the box office or at FeverBasketball.com and all Ticketmaster outlets.

RELATED: Learn More about the Festivities at Tamika's Final Regular Season Game »

Catchings' career has spanned 16 WNBA seasons, retiring at season’s end as one of the league's most accomplished and respected stars. A four-time Olympic gold medalist, she joined George in Rio last month while each captured gold medals for the U.S. Olympic Team.

The Fever currently are 16-16 and in fifth place in the WNBA, securing a playoff spot for a WNBA-record 12th consecutive season. Catchings has been a participant in all of those playoff seasons, appearing in a WNBA-record 67 playoff games. WNBA Playoffs begin Sept. 21.