T.J. McConnell Rumors

The @Indianapolis Indians are hosting “T.J. McConnell Night” on Aug. 27 at Victory Field. They are the AAA affiliate of his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates. He’ll throw out the first pitch and there will be special theme entertainment throughout the game. (Autographs from 5:30-6:10pm)

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“One thing I learned is just the IQ of that game, the high level. It's the peak form of basketball,” Freeman said. “So I learned IQ, what it takes and fighting all the way 'til the very end. That's what I learned. Never give up.  “I’m grateful because I've done a lot, I've played well, I've been to the NBA Finals my first year,” Freeman continued. “So I'm just grateful for the year, really. TJ McConnell, he told me, 'Just be grateful.' I think that's why I said that word. That's one of my words to describe the year. He was telling me, 'I've been in the league 10, 11 years, and this is my first time making it to the Finals. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication.' Just being grateful and enjoying the moment, that was something a lot of the older guys say. Enjoy these moments.”

Responsible Gaming

TJ McConnell: One, to say thank you for — straight up — the best basketball season of my life.  How it ended was so awful, but the rest? It meant everything. And then the second reason is, I wanted to share something that’s been on my mind since Game 7. I’ve been thinking about how, part of why losing that game was so hard, was that we’d gotten to a point where we believed in ourselves so strongly — as a group that always finds a way. We were in all these situations, all playoffs, where people gave us no chance. But we kept finding ways to win. Even heading into Game 6, after OKC blew us out and Tyrese got hurt, people were pouring dirt on our chances and acting like it was a wrap. But we stayed alive. And it’s like you do that enough times … it gets hard to believe there could be a time when you won’t do it. You know what I mean? So then when Game 7 went how it did, I feel like it wasn’t even just sadness we were experiencing. It was also shock. Like, Wait, no — what?? That’s not how it goes for us, sorry. That’s not how the story ends.

The Players' Tribune

TJ McConnell: Alright … so I’m a 6'1" white guy in his mid-30s. In other words, I’m not exactly stopping traffic as this NBA player people recognize. And that’s just me on a normal day. You can imagine, on a day when I’m wearing a hat? I’m almost definitely not getting recognized. And during COVID, when you added a mask to the mix — nah, forget it. I was pretty much fully anonymous. And all that is to say: It’s not Tyrese’s fault. But on his first day in Indy after he got traded, as he was walking through the facility, he and I crossed paths. And I’ve got my hat on, my mask up … I’m chilling. I’m not even thinking about that, though. So of course I just go right up to him, real excited, and I’m like, “Tyrese!!! What’s up brother. How are you??? Bro, welcome to Indy.” Yeah, Tyrese did not know who I was. He was very friendly, but 1000% thought I was some guy who works on the business side. Then a few awkward seconds passed, until eventually I realized what was going on. I took my hat off, pulled my mask down, and we started laughing so hard. We joke about that story with each other all the time……. and honestly I can’t help but think of it right now, as I kind of look back on the season we had.

The Players' Tribune

Jalen Williams talked about T.J. McConnell's surprise series against the Thunder. He joined PJ Washington in the club of role players who stepped up against them in a playoff series. The 24-year-old reflected on their championship run in his "The Young Man and The Three" podcast episode. “Dude’s so annoying,” Williams joked. “Special player, though. What’s cool is, looking back at it, and I was even able to share a couple of moments with him during the game, he was really cool to me when I got drafted.”

OKC Thunder Wire

While the 33-year-old was a huge plus for the Pacers, relying on him to create buckets isn't a sustainable full-game plan. “We were thinking the same thing,” Williams said. “He ran off a run, and we were going into the huddle like, 'Bro.' But yeah, he was annoying during that series, and annoying is obviously a good thing, just on the other end of that.”

OKC Thunder Wire

Williams talked about McConnell's surprise series against the Thunder. He joined PJ Washington in the club of role players who stepped up against them in a playoff series. The 24-year-old reflected on their championship run in his "The Young Man and The Three" podcast episode. “Dude’s so annoying,” Williams joked. “Special player, though. What’s cool is, looking back at it, and I was even able to share a couple of moments with him during the game, he was really cool to me when I got drafted.”

OKC Thunder Wire

Roland Beech: Game 7 Preview — Physicality/Playing Hard Series Summary I tracked all six games so far of the NBA Finals for physicality + hard play effort using the ‘Roland Playing Hard’ framework. It’s not just about who wants it more—it’s how they show it: • Indiana leads 4–2 by game in physicality/effort "wins" • +13 Physicality wins, +49 Playing Hard Effort wins • +33 in Level 2+ force physical plays • 6 of the top 8 effort players are Pacers ...Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, Alex Caruso the most "effort wins" TJ McConnell the top in effort wins per 36 minutes Game 7 is Sunday. If Indiana wins, don’t say it’s a fluke—say they out-worked OKC. Full leaderboard + series data coming soon.

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The Pacers are, almost magically, a win from the franchise’s first championship since its ABA days. It doesn’t happen without McConnell, whose game seems to elevate with the stakes. “It’s no surprise what T.J. does out there,” Obi Toppin, one of McConnell’s running mates off the bench, said after scoring 20 points. McConnell assisted on all four of Toppin’s 3s. “Any time he comes into the game, the crowd loves him, and he feeds off of that. He had a great start to the game, and it got us going. Brought juice into the game, energy into the game.”

New York Times

StatMuse: TJ McConnell is the first bench player in NBA history with 60+ points 25+ assists 15+ rebounds in an NBA Finals.

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He also posted, “Instead of focusing on the performances we seen from Jdub/Shai [Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander], Tj/Siakam [T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam], how this series is going,” Morant continued. “We say [something] negative about a city/team on a national level.” The tweet seemingly made it's way back to Stephen A. Smith, which prompted him to make a long post saying: “So this is what we’re doing now @JaMorant? I recall talking about the Finals. But the @memgrizz made news because of Bane getting traded. AND, your possible extension coming up. Would you prefer I go into detail about WTH has been going on in Memphis? Why players have stated they’re not interested in going? Or even MORE details? Or would you like me to leave well enough alone, and let the great peeps of Memphis address it on their own? Your call! I’m all ears!”

Clutch Points

The topic on the show “First Take” was about whether the team should move on from Morant, where Smith spoke about how the destination is not a “safe environment,” even saying that players have told him that. This garnered the attention of Morant, who took to X, formerly Twitter, and critiqued how the coverage is on the team rather than the current NBA Finals and even called out his “sources.” “Instead of focusing on the performances we seen from Jdub/Shai [Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander], Tj/Siakam [T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam], how this series is going,” Morant continued. “We say [something] negative about a city/team on a national level.”

Clutch Points

Dan Devine: Rick Carlisle on TJ McConnell: "He was great in the third. Put him back in earlier than normal. He was very tired, that's why we got him out. And I think there was a play early in the fourth where it looked like fatigue had set in there."

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Clemente Almanza: FINAL: Thunder 120, Pacers 109 SGA - 31 points, 10 assists JDub - 40 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists Chet - 9 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks Wiggins - 14 points Haliburton - 4 points, 6 assists Siakam - 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists McConnell - 18 points OKC leads 3-2

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