'A selfless, steady leader:' Pacers Herb Simon is longest team owner in NBA history
INDIANAPOLIS ― Herb Simon is a kid from the Bronx who could never quite latch onto that brash, pushy New York City way. He is a brilliant mind who doesn't tell people that. He just does things that are brilliant.
He is a billionaire who could never pull off the arrogance of a slick businessman. Any billionaire who goes by the name Herbie is, undoubtedly, a man who doesn't put on airs.
He is a real estate developing genius turned shopping center mogul who would give dirt cheap deals to major retailers to get them into his mall, building benevolence, because Herbie knew that one cheap deal would get him five more deals in other malls that weren't so cheap.
Simon, along with his two late older brothers, Fred and Melvin, built a worldwide empire with a company called Simon Property Group headquartered in Indianapolis, a city where his goodwill, advocacy and philanthropy is unmatched.
But in 1983, Simon did something for the city that borders on immeasurable when he stepped firmly out of his comfort zone and into the world of professional sports to save Indianapolis' basketball team.
There is a photo that tells the story in real time: A 48-year-old Simon standing at a podium announcing to the city that he and Mel Simon had purchased the Indiana Pacers. Behind him is a giddy, applauding, smiling Mayor William Hudnut with a Pacers cap propped atop his head.
That move of two New York City-bred brothers stepping in to save the Pacers from leaving Indy ― or being turned over to the NBA ― was voted the top sports story of the year in 1981 by the Indianapolis Star. And, minus an NFL team coming to Indy three years later, what the Simons did would have been the top sports story of the decade, if not the century.
Words like "saved," "rescued" and "salvaged" were splashed across newspapers as the basketball-loving state of Indiana rejoiced in what these brothers did.
They had singlehandedly kept the Pacers from leaving Indianapolis and they vowed the marriage between the blue-and-gold team and a city still known as Naptown would be a beautiful, long-term partnership.
The marriage, which still seems more like the honeymoon, has lasted 41 years, making Herb Simon the longest tenured NBA team owner in league history and one of the most respected owners to ever sit at the table in a board of governors meeting.
"Herb is a quiet, selfless and steady leader. He’s created a close-knit, family-like culture with the Pacers," Adam Silver said in an e-mail interview with IndyStar. "He also has a huge heart and embraces the important role that the Pacers organization plays in the Indianapolis community."
"Herbie is, without a doubt," said longtime Pacers executive Donnie Walsh, "one of the finest men I've ever known."
'We thought the city needed us'
For the first 16 years of the Pacers existence, starting with the American Basketball Association in 1967, the team scraped by most of the time. Nothing was ever really easy financially.
On the court, though, during those ABA days, the franchise had great success, winning three titles and electrifying a city.
Yet, one year after the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, the Pacers had to be saved by an eleventh-hour miracle ― a telethon put on by coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard and his wife and general manager, Nancy ― which rallied the community for donations to save the team from folding.
When the Simons swooped in seven years later to save the team again, things were outright dismal.
"As a new kid on the block in the NBA, the Pacers never got off the ground," IndyStar wrote in late 1983. "They were in a financial strait jacket from the time owner Sam Nassi plunked down his first million bucks," and things only got worse from there.
After a 20-62 record in the 1982-83 season, the second worst in the NBA, and ghost town attendance ― the team averaged 4,814 in attendance that season at Market Square Arena, which could seat 16,000 ― city leaders were almost certain the team would fold or move.
Nassi and his California-based cohort Frank Mariani had no interest in trying to save a barely mediocre Midwest basketball franchise. They put the team up for sale April 5, 1983. They were done with the Indiana Pacers. And if they couldn't sell the team to an outside buyer, Nassi and Mariani told city leaders, they would turn it back to the league.
Mayor Hudnut was publicly devastated and summoned civic leaders and anyone else who would listen to help the team find a buyer. The Simons were a likely pair to turn to, having moved to the city in the 1960s, and wading in the type of money needed to buy an NBA franchise.
But Herb Simon, who declined an interview for this story through the Pacers, made it clear: The Simons would prefer to be part of a group of buyers, not the sole owners.
A week after the Pacers went on the market, Hudnut, Herb Simon, the Simons' attorney, Randy Foxworthy, and former Indiana senator Birch Bayh, traveled to New York to meet with NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien.
"There were a number of other behind-the-scenes meetings," Hudnut told IndyStar at the time. The city approached the family of Tony Hulman, former owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, visiting him on his yacht in Florida.
No and no thank you. It seemed no one wanted the team. And then Herb Simon did what he always does. He let his heart take over.
"He's one of the kindest, gentlest, smartest, most wonderful men, human beings, I've ever met in my life," Rick Fuson, former CEO and president of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, told IndyStar. "He's the kind of guy that cares about people first and business second."
Simon didn't want to take the team on, just he and his brother. But if they didn't, he was certain the city would never be the same again.
"So, at about one minute before midnight in the history of our professional basketball team, the Simons who had said they would give financial help to any group that wanted to take the plunge, found themselves alone on the high dive," wrote IndyStar sports columnist Bob Collins in November 1983. "They were it ― all we had. If they had walked away, the Pacers would have been long gone."
Instead, a deal was crafted in the final moments, with the Simons forking out an estimated $11 million to buy the team and erase the debt. It's a decision that has worked out just fine for the Simons.
Today the team is worth an estimated $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.
"We were reluctant to step out by ourselves," Simon said after the sale was announced, "but we thought the city needed us."
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'He roots for everyone'
To know Herb Simon, a man whose net worth is estimated at $4.7 billion by Forbes, all preconceived notions of the rich and famous have to be put aside. First of all, Simon never really dreamed of being rich and he certainly didn't want to be famous.
That was one of Simon's worries when he bought the Pacers, that the family would be thrown into the professional sports limelight, a public persona that didn't usually come from being the owner of shopping malls.
Steve Simon remembers his dad's nervousness and felt the same. In fact, the younger Simon skipped the Pacers' first home game after his father and uncle bought the team to go to his high school dance. He wanted to just be one of the guys, not that guy whose family owned the city's basketball team.
"I think back then and I had a level of discomfort, given the notoriety and the attention," Steve Simon, the heir to the franchise, told IndyStar this week. "And I think, to some degree, he probably did, too."
It was never his father's goal to own a sports team or be involved in sports, said Steve Simon. It wasn't their natural habitat.
"They were building their business, so everyone had to adjust to that kind of role for the family and being associated with a historical NBA franchise," he said. "It was a journey for sure for him."
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Herb Simon has always chosen to stay mostly under the radar when it comes to his Pacers ownership. Some NBA owners talk publicly all the time. Some never are seen talking. Simon falls more to the latter, last speaking to the media on Dec. 15, 2021.
He made clear from the beginning that he should leave the basketball part of the Pacers to people much more knowledgeable about the sport than him. "I know enough about basketball," Simon told IndyStar in 1983, "that I know I don't know enough."
Nearly 10 years after he purchased the team, he finally talked to IndyStar columnist Bill Benner, who pointed out to Simon that in a decade he'd never written a column on him.
"I'd prefer to keep it that way," Herb Simon replied, according to Benner, who added that Simon said it in a friendly tone and was kind during the interview.
That's how Simon is to anyone he meets, said Steve Simon. It doesn't matter if Simon is at a ritzy high-rise restaurant in New York City eating with NBA commissioner Silver or in the back seat of a cab on the streets of Indianapolis, he treats the cab driver exactly the same as he treats Silver.
"He's generous and loves to connect with people," Steve Simon said. "No matter where they are, he treats everyone the same."
'He deserves to be celebrated'
Simon never wanted to be famous or in the public eye as the owner of the Pacers and yet quietly, behind the scenes, he has made a major impact on the NBA with his "wisdom and experience," said Silver.
"He’s been a key decision maker on virtually every issue shaping our game and business," Silver said. "Few people have influenced the NBA’s growth as much as Herb over these past 41 years."
As the NBA's marquee event lands in Simon's hometown this weekend, there is no one who feels more pride than him. But his pride is for the city of Indianapolis and for the team; not for him, said Steve Simon.
The 89-year-old NBA owner wanted nothing more than to get the All-Star game back to his city. The last time it was in Indy was 1985, just two years after the Simons purchased ― and saved ― the Pacers.
The only thing Simon wants more than an NBA All-Star Game in Indy, his son said, is an NBA title for the Pacers.
He will say, "it's not for me. It's for everyone we're in a relationship with, but the fans being the most obvious. We want to wow our fans and have them celebrate and be excited," said Steve Simon. "But I couldn't think of anything more exciting for him."
The city has always thanked Herb Simon and his family for what they did that late night in April 1983. Simon has always felt it was Indianapolis that came through for him, said his son, and that is why on top of being the strong, silent leader of the city's NBA team, he has also made sure he gave back.
"He has always said, 'Look, Indianapolis and the state of Indiana have done way more for me and my family than I can ever repay,'" said Steve Simon.
In his first public appearance after buying the team in April 1983, Herb Simon made a promise to make the Pacers a respected franchise for Indianapolis.
"We are very excited and have great pride in the city. This is another step in keeping it first class," he said. "We are doing everything we can do on our part."
Herb Simon has most definitely done his part. And he's been satisfied doing it without recognition..
"He'll be a little uncomfortable (about this article)," said Steve Simon. "But he's deserving of attention and the fact that he'll be a little uncomfortable is a necessary byproduct of that. He didn't want to be celebrated, but it's worth celebrating him. He deserves celebration."
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers Herb Simon: Longest NBA team owner in history of league
