Blog: Get off Myles Turner's back

His comments Monday were aimed at Pacers management, not at the city and its fans

They loved Myles Turner while he was here in Indianapolis. He had his own fan section, Turner’s Block, and the locals truly embraced him, especially after he came of age in the wake of the Domantas Sabonis-Tyrese Haliburton trade.

So it’s little wonder that his opening remarks in his Media Day interview with the Milwaukee Bucks is causing a bit of an angry stir here in Indy.

“I’m embracing change, embracing this cool part of my career,” he said Monday. “I’m heading into my prime. I’m in a city now that wants to celebrate me. There’s a great quote that says, `Go where you’re celebrated.’ I feel like that’s here. People are excited to have me here.”

Naturally, Pacers fans, who weren’t pleased Turner left for Milwaukee without giving the team’s management a chance to match or exceed the Bucks’ offer, feel stabbed in the back.

And I understand why.

But when he says “city,” I can’t help but believe he’s talking about the Pacers organization, and not the good people who helped make him such a popular figure in Indianapolis through the first 10 years of his career.

Look, I don’t reside inside Turner’s skull, but when he’s talking about a lack of appreciation, I don’t for one second believe he’s literally talking about the city and its fans.

I believe he’s talking about the Pacers’ front office, who got out-bid by the Bucks, who gave him a four-year, $108 million million contract. I believe he’s referencing the fact that he was on the trading block for a good portion of his career, and I believe he’s remembering how the Pacers extended an offer sheet to then-Phoenix center Deandre Ayton right under his nose back in 2022.

I feel like he’s also talking about having a chance to be a second or third scoring option in the Bucks attack, something that generally wasn’t true during his time in Indiana.

Put yourself in his shoes: The trade rumors (and they weren’t bogus, trust me). The Ayton offer sheet. The fact Milwaukee showed its enthusiasm about acquiring him by offering a larger contract -- how much larger, we don’t know -- than the one the Pacers offered.

Wouldn’t you feel some kind of way towards the Pacers organization?

Again, I don’t think he’s ripping the city he called home for 10 years. I don’t think he’s casting shade at the fans, most of whom supported him unwaveringly through his decade in Indy. I believe he’s talking about the Pacers and their management team, who didn’t offer the money he wanted and opened the door to the Bucks. As he said Monday, his departure was “kind of bitter.”

Of course, that won’t change the way some fans feel about Turner. He will be booed vociferously when the Bucks come to Indy to face the Pacers. I’m just telling you, it wasn’t a shot at the city or the fans. It may have come off that way, and Myles could have chosen his words more carefully, but I don’t blame Turner for feeling a certain kind of way toward the Pacers organization.

And it’s going to linger.

“I had a chance to reach out to everybody on the (Pacers text chain after the signing),” Turner said. “It’s kind of bitter, you know what I mean? You’ve been to war with these guys, those teammates are your brothers. You don’t realize that’s the last bus ride you’ll have with those guys.”