Vintage Pacers gear is popular ahead of Eastern Conference Finals showdown

By: Taj Simmons

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers are playing for the chance to make their first NBA Finals since 2000. Some fans are wearing Pacers shirts and jerseys from before that Finals appearance for this latest playoff push.

"With the series coming up against the Knicks, it just revives a lot of those childhood memories," said Pacers fan Landon Duncan.

Duncan regularly wore a Reggie Miller jersey as a child during the 2000 NBA Finals. He has outgrown the jersey, but his family never got rid of it.

"We always give my mom a hard time because she holds on to everything," Duncan said. "She shows up with this bag with about three different Reggie Miller jerseys."

The jersey he wore during the Pacers' last Finals appearance is now being worn by his two-year-old son.

"I immediately threw it on him," Duncan said. "If we can pull this off, it's something I can talk to him about someday and hopefully pass that on."

Vintage Pacers gear for adults is also a hot commodity.

Angel Tapia opened The Hype Vault vintage clothing store in his hometown of Brownsburg this year. He stocks items such as Nike sneakers and racing jackets, but he says Pacers apparel is the hardest to keep in stock.

"Whenever we get them, they sell within days, and sometimes on the first day we get them," Tapia said. "Everybody is on social media asking if we have jerseys and vintage Pacers gear. We have a couple in store now, but they're flying off the shelves."

Some of the vintage Pacers gear was made locally by Logo 7, also known as Logo Athletic. The Indianapolis-based company became one of the largest sportswear brands in the nation before it filed for bankruptcy in 2000. It was acquired by Reebok in 2001, which in turn was bought by Adidas in 2005.