Lance Stephenson and the Indiana Pacers are together. Again.
For the third time in his career, Stephenson is signing with the Pacers, this time on a 10-day hardship contract as Indiana works to fill out its roster during this COVID surge. Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the news.
Sources: Lance Stephenson is signing a 10-day hardship deal with the Indiana Pacers today. Born Ready reunion.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 1, 2022
This is Stephenson’s third stint with the Pacers. The first started when the Pacers drafted him in the second round in 2010 and lasted through 2014 — that is when Stephenson was a vital part of the Pacers’ rotation and was blowing in LeBron’s ear in the playoffs. He returned in 2016 and played every game for Indiana in the 2017-18 season.
He had been out of the NBA for a few seasons but returned to the G-League to make a comeback this year, and when COVID hit the Atlanta Hawks signed him to a 10-day contract. In his debut, Stephenson played 23 minutes for a depleted Hawks team and got a standing ovation from fans.
Stephenson averaged almost 12 minutes a game over six games for Atlanta, but as the team starts to come out of COVID they let him go. Indiana jumped in and picked Stephenson up.
Again.
