On Aug. 26, the Pacers officially parted ways with Nate McMillan as head coach after four seasons. It came less than 24 hours after the team returned from the NBA campus in Orlando. One day later, Nate joins the podcast to talk about the front office going in a different direction, his hope for last season, whether he has any regrets and more. (6:26)

My story on his firing: https://fieldhousefiles.substack.com/p/pacers-make-sharp-turn-move-on-from

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Six weeks after they arrived in Florida and more than four months after the NBA's stoppage, the playoffs are here. The Pacers went 6-2 in the seeding round and face the Miami Heat in Round 1. AP writer Tim Reynolds joins the show to discuss his experience in the NBA bubble, then preview these franchise's fifth time meeting in the playoffs. (10:00)

Then, I'm joined by PointsBet VP Ron Shell to talk about the sports gaming boom, their partnership with the Pacers, and a special promotion for Pacers fans. (44:15)

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Chris Denari is in his 14th season season as the TV play-by-play announcer for the Pacers. He's done it all in Indy — from working at FOX 59 to calling Butler and Fever games. And he remains on the IMS Radio Network. But his new reality, calling games for FOX Sports Indiana from a studio, is much different. On this podcast, we talk about the Pacers' play in the restart and all that goes into Denari calling a game off monitors rather than being courtside.

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My guest on this episode is Kenny "The Jet" Smith. He played at UNC from 1983-87, was drafted by the Sacramento Kings, spent 10 seasons in the NBA and won two championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995). And now he's seen weekly during the NBA season on "Inside the NBA" with EJ, Charles and Shaq.

He's recently launched The Jet Academy to help train basketball players from anywhere — and he enlisted Victor Oladipo to teach young players this week. We talked about how he got into broadcasting, Oladipo presenting inside The Bubble, the Pacers' potential this season and the job coach Nate McMillan has done.

See more of what he's doing at thejetacademy.com and use code BIGSHAQ at sign-up to save $35.

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NBA teams began arriving to Disney's campus — in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — on July 7th. The Pacers checked in on July 9th, so they've been in The Bubble for almost two weeks. Nate McMillan said it had a college feel; others, like T.J. Warren, said it felt more like AAU. Keith Smith, who worked there for nearly 20 years, came on the show to explain why it was the ideal location for the NBA's restart and all the amenities available to players.

» FieldhouseFiles.com is the new home for my stories. Log on, sign up with your email and follow along for complete coverage of the Pacers.

Keith's story from April 16th: Why Walt Disney World would be the ideal spot for the NBA to salvage its season.

Follow Keith on Twitter: @KeithSmithNBA.

The Pacers arrived in Orlando for the NBA's restart on Thursday and over the weekend, another familiar name made his way down there. Tim Sinclair, the voice you hear inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse for home games, was selected by the NBA to be one of four public address announcers for games. Before the trip, we discussed his decision to go inside the bubble (and away from family), how long he’ll be there, what he packed and what it may be like to do his job without fans.

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C.J. Miles signed with the Pacers in 2014 and spent three seasons in Indy. While his time was relatively short, his impact and wisdom shared was sizable. This podcast was recorded on June 4th — exactly one month before the birth of his second daughter, Nadia Rhea Miles.

We opened with a deep conversation about what's on his heart; what it will be like to explain this time to his daughters (9:30); how he had no intention of going straight to the NBA from high school until the day of the 2005 draft (15:44); how the Spurs drafted his close friend Ian Mahinmi over him, a Dallas product (18:00); whether he has always been a comfortable, confident man (20:20); the pressure of being in a contract year (22:00); signing with the Pacers and Larry Bird eating potato chips before dinner (26:15); Lance Stephenson (29:15); Being traded to the Wizards and getting hurt (33:30); George Hill’s ranch (38:35); appearance by Ava, his first daughter (43:40); selflessly playing power forward (44:20); how a lot of people want to be basketball players, but a lot of people don’t want to play basketball (44:55); what Indy means to him (49:30).

The show is back. I know it's been nearly a month since my last episode ... but there's a reason. Pacers players have all made their way back to town, are tested every other day and will fly down to Disney's Wide World of Sports in one week.

On this episode, I'll explain why I've been off the grid for a few weeks, how I'm still considering my next move ... and I'll touch on key points surrounding the NBA's restart.

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