by Wheat Hotchkiss
One is a tough-minded guard from Boston who loves country music. The other is a high-flying New York City showman who feels right at home in the Midwest.
Bruce Brown and Obi Toppin — the Pacers’ two big offseason acquisitions — both brought distinct skillsets and personas with them to Indiana. In different ways, they have each proven to be uniquely ideal fits for the Blue & Gold.
Brown was the Pacers’ marquee target in free agency over the summer, fresh off winning a championship in his first season in Denver. The 6-4 guard was a second-round pick out of the University of Miami in 2018, but quickly proved to be a valuable rotation player thanks to his versatility and toughness.
He started 99 games over his first two NBA seasons in Detroit, then played big minutes over the next two years in Brooklyn, where he was often asked to play power forward in a lineup that included Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant.
Brown signed with the Nuggets prior to last season, where he enjoyed an even bigger breakthrough. He averaged a career-best 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in the regular season and was even better in the playoffs in a sixth man role, averaging 12 points and 4 rebounds over 20 games while helping Denver win its first NBA title in franchise history.
When he hit free agency again this summer, the Pacers reached out almost immediately. The front office made their pitch. All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton also called Brown to say that he thought he would be “a perfect fit” for the Blue & Gold. A deal was struck very quickly.
“The Pacers were super ecstatic about me and I was their number one choice,” Brown said at his introductory press conference in July. “So it was easy.”
It didn’t take long for Brown to acclimate to Indiana. He arrived in town ahead of training camp, where he worked with the starters from day one. On Opening Night, he made a memorable first impression, arriving to his first official game as a Pacer in a cowboy hat and brown overalls, with no shirt underneath. The outfit got plenty of buzz from his teammates and across the internet, but Brown’s play in the season-opening win that night over Washington merited just as much attention. He scored 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, setting a new career high with six 3-pointers.
He is capable of offensive explosions like that, but the Pacers signed him more for his steady all-around presence, something that was on display quickly in his tenure with the Blue & Gold.
On any given night, Brown is liable to wear out the ink on a box score with the way he stuffs the stat sheet. In a big win over Milwaukee on Nov. 9, he tallied 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a block. In an In-Season Tournament victory over Detroit on Nov. 24, he put together 10 points, four boards, five assists, and three steals while locking down Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham in the second half.
Head coach Rick Carlisle has deployed Brown like a Swiss army knife. He starts at shooting guard, but he’s handled the ball at times and served as a small-ball four at others. He’s fit right in next to Haliburton and Myles Turner in the starting lineup, but also seen stretches where he acts as the lone starter alongside four bench players. Haliburton describes him as “the ultimate glue guy” for his ability to fit seamlessly into almost any role in any lineup.
“The thing with Bruce that excites me the most is he’ll do that, he’ll run, he’ll get out in transition, he’ll fly around…But he also does a lot of dirty work,” Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said. “He’ll dive on loose balls and he’ll set the hard screens. For people in Indiana who love basketball, we appreciate those kind of things.”
While Brown has fit right in on the court, he’s also diversified the playlists in the Pacers locker room. If you’ve attended a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse this season, you’ve probably noticed a few country songs being worked into the rotation during pregame warmups. In many ways, his taste in music reflects his personality on the court. Brown is a no-frills hard worker who isn’t afraid to get a little mud on his tires.
“I get here early every day and he’s here before me every day,” Carlisle said. “He’s an early morning guy. You walk in the gym and Luke Combs is playing and he’s shooting and he’s doing his stuff.”
Toppin stands out in a different way. In his short time with the Pacers, the high-flying forward has already assembled a compilation of in-game dunks that rivals any player in franchise history.
The 6-9 forward won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2022, but even with that knowledge, Pacers fans and even Toppin’s teammates probably weren’t adequately prepared for the caliber of dunks he is able to pull off in a game setting.
In the Pacers’ preseason finale against Cleveland on Oct. 20, Toppin leaked out on a fastbreak in the first quarter. After catching a pass from Bennedict Mathurin and knowing that he had a clear path to the basket, he decided to add some flourish, going between the legs before throwing down a tomahawk slam. You can see rookie forward Jarace Walker literally leap out of his chair on the bench as Toppin pulls off the move.
He’s continued to add to his highlight reel in the weeks since, whether it’s catching lobs from Haliburton, showing off his athleticism on unique putbacks, or just posterizing defenders.
“I’m the type of person (who’s) going to be a little flashy if I can on dunks because it’s an energy-booster for the fans and for our bench,” Toppin said. “Something little like that can put juice into our team and help us get better. It’s just the way I play.”
Toppin’s dunking gets plenty of attention, but the Pacers acquired him in a trade from the Knicks with more in mind than just increasing Instagram engagements. The 25-year-old forward filled a specific need for the Pacers, who were looking for someone to slide into the starting lineup at power forward.
Toppin’s size and athleticism made perfect sense with the way the Pacers play, with Haliburton leading an offense that leads the league in pace. He also has the size to help the Pacers on the boards, an area where they struggled last season.
“There’s a lot to like about Obi Toppin — the player, the person, the vibe,” Carlisle said. “The way he runs the floor, the way he finishes, the way he interacts with teammates. A lot of really good stuff.”
To his credit, Toppin knows who he is as a player. He’s said in numerous interviews this season that he isn’t the type of player who is going to stand at the top of the key and run isolation plays. He is most valuable when he is constantly moving, making a backdoor cut, crashing the glass, or finding an open space to spot up for a 3-pointer.
“Having great guys like Tyrese, Bruce, everybody who’s playing on this team, all I’ve got to do is just be in the right spot at the right time and run the floor like I do and those guys are going to find me,” Toppin said. “They do a great job of that.”
For Toppin, coming to Indiana was an opportunity he relished. Though he was born in Brooklyn and enjoyed playing for his hometown Knicks for his first three NBA seasons, he was stuck in a reserve role behind All-Star forward Julius Randle. The Pacers were offering him a chance to finally start and play alongside one of the league’s best passers in Haliburton.
And even though he is from New York, Toppin is familiar with the Midwest, having starred at the University of Dayton, where he was the National Player of the Year in 2020.
“I just love the vibe that he has every day,” Carlisle said. “He’s authentically grateful to be a teammate on this team. He’s grateful to play with Tyrese. He loves Indiana. He doesn’t force things. You never see him burp up a lousy shot. He plays within the team.
“This is the kind of message that we want to send to each other as we’re playing, that we’re all completely selfless and we’re out there trying to do one thing and that is be successful together.”
There is no better example of Toppin’s selfless approach than the Pacers’ In-Season Tournament game in Atlanta on Nov. 21. Carlisle approached him before the game and said he was going to start Aaron Nesmith over Toppin at power forward, feeling that it was a better fit for that particular matchup. Toppin came off the bench without complaint and had a great game, tallying 21 points and a season-high six assists to help Indiana knock off the Hawks and advance to the In-Season Tournament Quarterfinals.
He was back in the starting lineup the next night.
That willingness to do whatever is needed to help the team win is the common thread that ties together Toppin and Brown, and the biggest reason why both have fit in so seamlessly in their first year in Indiana.
“We’ve been successful because guys know their role on the team,” Toppin said. “…Everybody does the little things on the court to get their success. Obviously, Ty does a great job of finding guys. And we basically do the little things — defense, being in the right place at the right time, and just making shots when the ball hits our hand.”
Originally posted on pacers.com