Larry Bird knew it was going to be a tough sell.
After all, how do you sell what appears to be a car with no wheels to someone hitchhiking?
The Indiana Pacers franchise, though basically well run and moderately successful since coming from the American Basketball Association in 1976, never had won an NBA championship. And with scandal and embarrassment since the Ron Artest/Stephen Jackson attack on fans in Detroit and several subsequent run-ins with police involving players, the community had pretty much tuned out the local NBA team.