The Pacers have not had Obi Toppin at their disposal for the better part of the season. Toppin has played just four games for the Indiana Pacers this season. He finally just played in his fourth game against the Hornets after a long absence.
Toppin missed three months with a stress fracture in his foot. He was a key member of the 2025 team that made the NBA Finals. Toppin has been sitting on the bench, watching this young team deal with a bunch of injuries. He has been learning a lot about the franchise.
After the game, Toppin made the bold claim that the team is actually not tanking to get a top draft pick.
GettyIndiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin shoots the ball. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
Indiana Pacers Forward Obi Toppin Talks About the Team Tanking
After the game against the Hornets, Toppin talked about sitting out for so long and what he learned about the team.
“I feel like sitting out, I’ve learned a lot…You see little things like hustle plays, the things that made us great. When you see someone slacking, you just try and pick them up and make sure they understand the culture we have here. Rick does a really good job of establishing that from the beginning and making sure everybody is sticking to that.”
Toppin then goes to say that the team is not tanking, contrary to popular belief.
“Everybody thinks we tanking, but we really going out there working extremely hard. Coaches push us to play extremely hard to get wins. We just gonna learn every single day as a team and get better, and hopefully start getting more Ws.”
Toppin believes that the team is still trying hard on the court to get wins. The players available to them have been playing hard all year, so that part is true. Toppin played just eight minutes in his first game back, but he played hard when he was on the floor.
GettyIndiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin shoots the ball. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
The Pacers Will be Cautious With Obi Toppin’s Return
While Toppin is finally back, the Pacers are going to be cautious with him coming back. The last thing they want to do is rush him back so that he suffers another injury with the team’s record sitting where it is. He will likely be on a minutes restriction for the remainder of the season.
Even so, Toppin will likely play more than eight minutes per game moving forward. The Pacers certainly have an incentive to tank since their pick goes to the Clippers if it sits in the 5-9 range. Because of that, Indiana has to make sure their pick stays in the top four.
Carlisle has done a very good job of making sure everyone on the team works hard. The Pacers still have the worst offense in the league. They hope that changes next season when Tyrese Haliburton returns to the lineup and the rest of the roster is fully healthy.
Pacers Forward Obi Toppin Claims Team is not Tanking