A chilling situation unfolded around 3:30 am early Sunday morning in Indianapolis: Pacers point guard Jamaal Tinsley and his crew – driving flashy cars that the locals definitely noticed – were shot at by unknown assailants following a night of partying at a place called Cloud 9. Pacers equipment manager Joey Qatato (he’s 48, probably trying to recapture his youth running with 20-somethings) was shot in both elbows and two of Tinsley’s three cars are full of bullet holes courtesy of an assault rifle.

The Pacers are pissed. The want to know why Tinsley was out at such an hour, and they want him to make smarter decisions away from the court. While we can’t argue with Indiana management, we think back to our 20s, when we were out-of-control drunken louts, partying Thursday through Saturday. Although the quality talent was locked up by 1 am, most guys will loiter much later in hopes of making something happen. So we often were out until 3 a.m., at which point we’d end up getting food. There were a few scuffles in DC and NY, but a weapon never made an appearance. They key difference is we got around via cabs, we were never blinged out, and we were only big ballers in our head. If Tinsley’s going to be partying a lot, why not just hire a two-person security detail to diffuse these situations? Tinsley’s making $6.3 million this year, he definitely can afford it.

If the Pacers plan to ship him out of town – like they did with prior problem children Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest – and take on whatever (bad) contract they can in return, we humbly recommend Speedy Claxton in Atlanta, who is overpaid and underperforming (because he’s always injured). He’ll fit right in with Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy.

Shots fired at Pacers’ Jamaal Tinsley (Indy Star)
Tinsley incident brings strong reaction from Pacers (Indy Cornrows)