Indiana Pacers 50th Anniversary: All-Decade Team, 1967-77

Roger Brown

Statistics: 18.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.0 APG

Roger Brown is known as one of the best one-on-one players in the history of professional basketball, and despite his status as an all-time great, many of today’s fans are sadly unaware of Brown’s accomplishments.

Brown was the first player ever signed by the Indiana Pacers in 1967. The reason such a talented player was available to the upstart ABA was due to an unfortunate scandal that led to Roger Brown’s ban from the NBA.

Brown was not directly involved in the college point-shaving scandal that led to his punishment, but because he was a known associate of gambler and accused point-shaver Jack Molinas, he was banned from ever playing in the NBA.

The NBA’s loss was certainly the ABA’s gain. Roger Brown went on to a stellar career with the Indiana Pacers, leading the team during their run of three championships in four years during the early 70s.

Brown is not only considered one of the greatest ABA players of all time, but one of the best players in the history of the game. In acknowledgment of this, Brown was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.