After the Pacers’ 104-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night, many of the players were given their Final Four tickets for this upcoming weekend. The guys will be home, with two games (Friday and Sunday) that perfectly fit into the schedule.
Pacers center Ian Mahinmi, who was born in Rouen, France, is working with a French television station during the weekend. On Sunday when I asked him about his role, he wasn’t exactly sure, especially because he did not attend college and was drafted into the NBA (by the San Antonio Spurs at No. 28 in 2005) as a teenager.
Mahinmi, 28, will be working with Ma Chaine Sport MCS. They are calling him their “featured consultant.”
He knows basketball, can evaluate both the games and the player’s involved, and hit on what it’s like playing in such a pressured environment. What they also can lean on him for is his knowledge of Indianapolis and the excitement level of the city. More than anything, it’s a great opportunity to use one of their own.
[If you know French, watch as Mahinmi makes the announcement.]