Hoops Hobby

The Letter M is a special one when it comes to the history of the Indiana Pacers. Not only some is it home to some of the most important players in franchise history, but with 40 players falling here, 3 of which are adds within the last couple weeks, it’s one of those letters that I will need to split into multiple blog posts.

As a reminder, I’m attempting to collect one autograph for every player, past and present, for the Indiana Pacers, who’s played in a regular season game for the franchise. As of this post, I’ve acquired autographs for 218 players out of 395 (plus rookie Kam Jones who hasn’t appeared in a game yet). Ideally these would be on trading cards. I have a few that are on photos or index cards that I plan to convert or embed in trading cards at some point in the future, but nearly all of them are on certified or custom trading cards.

My preferred type of card is an on-card autograph with the player featured in a Pacers uniform, and ideally the card would be thin as to fit in a binder in a penny sleeve without a toploader. My preferred way to view this project is by flipping through a binder.

And I always acknowledge that this is a project I may never complete 100%, and it is also one that is always changing with new players being added to the list every year.

And with all of that explanation, here is the first half of the Letter M, going through Derrick McKey.

Autographs of Pacers with Last Name starting with ‘M’ – 18 of 40, 45% Complete

First, the players in the first 20 alphabetically who I have autographs for so far.

Kyle Macy

Macy was a part of the first ever NBA 3-pt contest back in 1986, won by Larry Bird. In my note I received back from Macy, he shared his thoughts on the contest. ‘It was all new so no one knew what to expect. Had I known more, I would have practiced for it.’

The card Macy returned signed last year is from the 1987 Kentucky Bluegrass State Games and is the only card where Macy is pictured in a Pacers uniform. Beckett’s website says the following about these cards: ‘The card sets were originally given out by the Kentucky county sheriff’s departments and the Kentucky Highway patrol.’

Macy played in 76 games for the Pacers during the 1986-87 season, averaging close to 5 points per game. He shot the 3-ball well, especially so during the 1985-86 season with the Bulls, where he made over 41% of this attempts.

Ian Mahinmi

Ian played with the Pacers for 4 seasons, including the last as the full-time starting center in 2015-16. He won a championship with the Mavericks in 2011 and served as a backup center and occasional starter there before coming over to the Pacers in a trade for Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones.

He parlayed his career best season with the Pacers in 2015-16 into a sizeable contract with the Washington Wizards, where he finished his career.

This on-card autograph card from 2012-13 Panini Signatures was on my wantlist for a decent length of time. It finally appeared on COMC last summer, and I had to snatch it up that same day it appeared. I think it was one where I made an offer, then before waiting out the offer I just purchased at list price since I didn’t want to miss out on it.

Bennedict Mathurin

Excited to watch Mathurin play this coming season where his role in the offense is sure to grow in the absence of Haliburton.

In the modern card era, choices for autograph cards for rookies, especially top 10 picks, are plentiful. However, Mathurin’s cards have been more pricy than I would like, and I held off on buying one for a pretty long time. When I walked into my local LCS and saw this Prizm rookie autograph sitting in the display case, I decided that was my sign to go ahead and add one. Maybe the method of purchase factors into my card hierarchy more than I thought. Adding in person versus online definitely weighs in.

Wesley Matthews

Wes Matthews played for 8 NBA franchises, most notably as a starting shooting guard for Portland and Dallas in the 2010s. He averaged over 10 points per game in 9 consecutive seasons as he could spot up as well as score at the basket. He also received all-defense votes for a handful of seasons in his career, making him a solid all-around player.

He played with the Pacers in 23 games at the end of the 2018-19 season, post Victor Oladipo injury, starting all of those games, plus 4 playoff games where the Pacers lost to the Celtics.

For card options, Matthews has an on-card autograph from Panini Impeccable which I would love to own, but it is likely too thick to be displayed in my autograph binder. I went with this 2019-20 Absolute card, which although is a sticker autograph and is technically labeled as a Bucks card, still has a nice design. This is the Gold version /49.

TJ McConnell

Always enjoy seeing T.J. do his thing for this current Pacers team. A super-sub, if there ever was one. He can change the game with his pressure, both getting into the paint and on the defensive end by jumping in front of an inbounds pass. He’s done it over and over again, even though you know the opponent ‘knows’ it’s coming.

Along with many other Pacers this season, get well soon!

T.J. has many options for autograph cards in a Pacers uniform. I like this one with the City Edition jersey from 2021-22. The card is from 2021-22 Mosaic.

Doug McDermott

McDermott is one of those guys who has a specific role, and he’s going to come into the game and either have ‘it’ for that game, or not. In his case, he’s either going to be ‘on’ in his shooting from the 3 and midrange, or he’s not. When he’s on, it can change the game.

Dougie McBuckets had two stints with the Pacers, the first of which lasted for 3 seasons from 2018-19 to 2020-21. The second was a brief 18 game stretch in 2023-24.

McDermott is a career 41% shooter from 3 point range, a valuable skill in today’s NBA. His best season with the Pacers came in 2020-21, the lone Nate Bjorkgren season, so my impression of McDermott is probably tainted unfairly, but on Basketball Reference, his similarity scores him closest to Othella Harrington and Andrew DeClercq, so yeah I guess my feelings are fair. Thank you for your contributions, Dougie.

George McGinnis

McGinnis is undoubtedly one of the ABA’s all-time premier players, and one of the most important Pacers in the team’s history. Averaging nearly 30 points per game in his MVP season in the ABA in 1975, he led the Pacers to the ABA Finals for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. I could go into more on his career, but the tribute video from the Pacers does a great job of capturing his impact on the game and the teams he played for.

I’m thrilled that I picked up a 2006-07 Upper Deck Chronology autograph of McGinnis years ago. It remains one of my favorite autograph sets with several significant Pacers included. The design is sharp with beautiful on-card autographs. I wouldn’t choose any other set to be included in this autograph binder project.

Derrick McKey

McKey, a 90s Pacers staple. defensive presence and member of the 2000 Finals team, continues to be a tremendous autograph signer through the mail. He signed this 2000-01 Fleer Tradition card for me back in 2008 in about 2 weeks. I just love this design. It is an interesting color combination though. Prior to his time with the Pacers, McKey played 6 seasons with the Sonics, so this card kind of reminds me of his time there as well.

He also signed a 1993-94 Skybox dual card with Antonio Davis. Would be a neat card to have signed by Antonio as well.

And now, on to players that I don’t have an autograph for, yet.

Certified Non-Pacers Autographs

Cody Martin – My younger son (5) is a passionate Hornets fan. Toward the end of the 2022-23 season we attempted some pre-game autographs before a Hornets/Bucks game in Charlotte. Cody Martin was the only Hornets player who stopped to sign while we were there (it was getting close to gametime), and so he still my son’s favorite player. I have a great photo of my now 5 year old holding up a mini-basketball signed by Martin with a huge grin on his face. I was excited to tell him that his guy Martin was now on his Daddy’s favorite team.

Martin has plenty of autograph cards from his rookie season, 2019-20. I would of course like to figure out a signed Pacers card somewhere down the line, likely a custom card.

Kelan Martin –

Martin played in a pro league in Germany for his first pro season before signing a 2-way contract with the T-Wolves for the following season (2019). He signed with the Pacers in 2020 and played in 62 games at wing over the next two seasons with the Pacers.

Despite playing a decent role off the bench for those Pacer teams, Martin never appeared on a card as a Pacer. His only NBA licensed card was a Panini Player of the Day card and parallels, where he is pictured as a member of the Timberwolves.

Martin has autograph cards in Panini Contenders Draft from his time with the Butler Bulldogs.

Mac McClung – The 3-time Dunk Champ signed with the Pacers earlier this season with the team needing some backcourt help. He was waived after 3 games when the Pacers needed a ball-handler and signed Monte Morris after releasing McClung. Post-Pacers, McClung is with the Windy City Bulls, looking out for his next NBA opportunity.

McClung has nearly 200 different autograph cards, according to TCDB.com. These are a mix of Panini Draft Picks with McClung appearing for Texas Tech, his rookie cards for both the Warriors and 76ers, and Leaf unlicensed autographs.

It’s unlikely that McClung gets a licensed Pacers card, but I would like to create a custom card to remember his short time with the team.

Dominic McGuire – I don’t recall McGuire suiting up for the Pacers, but he did for two games in January of 2013.

McGuire was a second round pick with Washington in 2007-08, and was a part of some fun sets from all three manufacturers. As far as autograph cards, I think my favorite is a card with a canvas finish from Upper Deck Chronology, which should be no surprise to those who’ve read my Pacers autograph posts. Chronology is one of my favorite brands from the 2000s.

Players with Pacers Cards

George McCloud – A member of the Pacers from 1989-1993 with career averages over 9 ppg with a peak of averaging nearly 19 a game with Dallas in 1995-96, McCloud has plenty of early 1990s Pacers cards to choose from.

McCloud had a long, solid NBA career, appearing in over 750 games for 5 different teams, starting nearly 200 games. The year he averaged nearly 19 points a game for the Mavericks, he led the league in 3 pt attempts per game, taking over 8 1/2 while making 3.3 a game. At the time, McCloud set the record for number of 3 point attempts in a season. A player ahead of his time!

Kevin McKenna – Starting with the NBA Champion Lakers in 1981-82 after being drafted in the 4th round, he appeared in 36 games as a rookie- pretty impressive if you ask me.

Heading into his second season, he was waived by the Lakers and spent a season in the CBA before signing with the Pacers prior to the 1982-83 season. He also spent time with the Nets and Bullets.

Following his playing career, McKenna transitioned into coaching, which he still does today. He’s currently the lead assistant coach for the Oregon Duck’s men’s basketball team. Prior to that he was the head coach at Indiana State.

McKenna appears in several card sets, two of those are from the early 90s from his time as a coach in the CBA, and the other is as a Pacer from 1983-84 Star.

Players with Non-Pacers Cards

Ed Manning – Manning played with the ABA Pacers at the tail end of his career, appearing in 12 games during the 1975-76 season.

The father of Danny Manning, Ed played 9 seasons across the NBA and ABA, appearing in over 600 games with career averages of nearly 6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Following his playing career, Manning was an assistant coach at Kansas under then head coach Larry Brown. He followed Brown to the San Antonio Spurs, where he also was an assistant coach.

Manning appears on his own cards in 1970-71 and 1971-72 Topps, and on a New York Nets team card from 1975-76 Topps.

Rawle Marshall – Marshall signed with Dallas as an undrafted free-agent in 2005 and appeared in 23 games with the Mavericks, splitting time between the Mavs and the G-League Fort Wayne Flyers.

The Pacers traded for Marshall along with Darrell Armstrong and Josh Powell, sending point guard Anthony Johnson to the Mavericks in the Summer of 2006.

Marshall appeared in 40 games for the Pacers during the 2006-07 season, the last during Coach Rick Carlisle’s first run with the team. It was a transition season where the Pacers traded Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, and others to the Warriors for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy.

Rawle appears in several sets as a Maverick for the 2005-06 season, including Fleer Greats of the Game, SP Authentic, and Topps Total. He doesn’t have any certified autograph cards.

Bill Martin – Martin appeared was a 2nd round draft pick of the Pacers in the 1985 NBA Draft, and he played in 66 games during the 1985-86 season.

A four year player at Georgetown and a member of the 1984 National Championship team, Martin played for the Knicks and the Suns following his time with the Pacers, while also spending time in the CBA.

Martin appears on several Georgetown cards, as well as CBA cards from his time with the Columbus Horizon and the LaCrosse Catbirds.

Clyde Mayes – A local (for me) SC product of Furman University and 2x Southern Conference Player of the Year, Mayes played for the Bucks after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 1975 NBA Draft. He played for three different NBA franchises during the 1976-77 season, including two games with the Pacers.

Mayes really was a standout at Furman, leading the Paladins to 3 straight NCAA Tournaments. And following his time in the NBA, he played in multiple countries and leagues overseas from 1977-1989.

While Mayes doesn’t appear in any NBA sets, he does appear in one Spanish set, found thanks to eBay and TCDB. It’s a Converse set released in 1986, and his card pictures him for Manresa.

Since this card is currently in my COMC inventory, I don’t think it’s an issue for me to share these photos.

This set has NBA players mixed in, including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and certain international players prior to their time in the NBA, including Arvydas Sabonis, Detlef Schrempf, and Drazen Petrovic. Pretty cool.

This autograph project gives me reasons to look into sets like these which I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Dwayne McClain – A second round draft pick of the Pacers in the 1985 NBA Draft, McClain played in 45 games at forward, starting 4 during the 1985-86 season for the Pacers, averaging a bit over 10 minutes per game. Leading up to his professional career, he was a four year player at Villanova, including a member of the 1984-85 National Championship team that beat Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas in the final, a Georgetown team that also included former Pacer Bill Martin as a starting forward.

McClain played for a number of professional teams in the CBA in the US and the NBL in Australia, among others.

As far as cards, McClain has cards in sets where he is pictured with teams from his time in the CBA, NBL, and other leagues.

Players with No Cards

(Gerald) Jerry McKee – McKee made his ABA debut, playing 3 minutes in a game for the Pacers in October of 1969 against the Miami Floridians. That was his only ABA or NBA game. Following his time with the Pacers, he played minor league basketball. The articles where his time in minor basketball leagues is referenced are from local Ohio newspapers. He was a 3-year all conference performer at Ohio University.

Part 2 coming sometime in the future, which is all I can give as far as a timeline. I can also tell you that there are some more key players coming in the next post. If you’re read this far, I appreciate you.