Myles Turner preaches accountability, ready for leadership role with Indiana Pacers

Turner is about to enter his ninth season with the Pacers

Myles Turner is more mature than he's ever been.

The Indiana Pacers center entered Monday's media day refreshed and full of energy. You could feel it in his voice and see it in his mannerisms. The eight-year pro has been through a ton with the Pacers, and he's ready for more.

Turner feels his noticeable maturity. He shared that he has grown as a person and as a man, and he attributes that to his "human experiences." He's healthy, too. Everything is going his way.

It's the first time in a while that Turner has been able to enter a season like this. Last year at media day, he fielded questions about his contract status and trade possibilities. He was entering the final year of his deal, and Indiana had just finished a failed pursuit of another center in Deandre Ayton.

Turner responded by having the best season of his career. He had a ton of fun along the way and signed a contract extension in January. Being the lone center helped, and that was a key topic for the big man in past media days. From 2018 until 2022, Turner fielded near-constant questions about how he could fit in the frontcourt with big man Domantas Sabonis. It was a renewed story every season.

This year, there's no trade or extension questions. There's no other center in the frontcourt. It's just Turner. He earned this sense of peace with his strong play and maturity, and he's going to use it to become a better leader.

"I'm finally at the top of the seniority list, so I can do whatever the hell I want," he joked to open his media availability Monday. His ninth training camp with the Pacers begins tomorrow.

"It's fun man. I'm looking forward to just another role on this team. I've always talked about being a leader, but now it's the leader," he said, putting emphasis on the "a" and "the". With veterans George Hill and James Johnson departing, there is a leadership void waiting to be filled. "We've got a younger group of guys coming in here. I've got a refreshed mindset," Turner said.

Turner believes in this group. He and T.J. McConnell are the most experienced players on the roster, and both will step into vocal roles this year. To Turner, it's a young roster, but one that is good enough to surprise people. Indiana finished 11th in the Eastern Conference last season, but they were in the thick of the postseason race until the final week of the campaign.

The veteran big man thinks the Pacers can be a postseason squad this time around. But he knows it will take defensive growth. Indiana finished 26th in defensive rating last season, and they were 30th — dead last — after the All-Star break. The Pacers can score against anyone. Now, they have to get stops.

Some defensive success will come due to skill improvements. Other growth will happen because of key additions like wing Bruce Brown. But a decent chunk will occur because the blue and gold are going to be better at holding each other accountable on defense this season.

That starts with Turner. He's the anchor of the team's defense, and he was the best defender on multiple top-six defenses in the late 2010s. In 2022-23, Turner's impact was less obvious on that end of the floor. He was covering up for others more often, and that prevented him from doing his job. This year, he hopes that more accountability will help everyone. Even himself.

"Once we get on the court, we've got to push each other. Real friends help each other get to that next spot. Holding each other accountable is going to be a big thing this year," he said. If Turner wants that to be the case, he's going to have to be a leader on and off the court.

"I think I personally really harped on, even last year, I'd see something and bite my tongue. I'm not at liberty to do that any more. Accountability is going to be huge for this team this year," the Texas product said.

That's exactly what the Pacers need. They want to win more games this year, as Turner noted, and that takes buy-in from everybody. But they are also a young team. Over half of Indiana's projected rotation has fewer than four years of experience in the NBA. It will take teaching, accountability, and some patience to keep a group like that on task, which will be both improving every day and winning.

Turner has done that himself. From his second season to his fifth, he kept getting better as his team continued to stack wins. That's when he established himself as a defensive force in the league and an important part of the Pacers success.

Now he has to be someone who passes down the knowhow for his teammate to do the same. He's got the mindset to do it. He's refreshed and distraction-free, he can add more to his plate.

He has chosen to add leadership, and for an Indiana franchise who needs someone to step up and hold others accountable, Myles Turner is the right man for the job.

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