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Indiapolis Colts pay tribute to Jim Irsay following Pacers punching trip to the NBA Finals

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh06/01/25griffin_mcveigh
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A city losing an owner of a beloved sports team is tough for everyone. Even as another sport finds success, there tends to be a crossover for support. Especially when somebody like Jim Irsay from the Indianapolis Colts is involved, being a massive fan of the Indiana Pacers.

Booking a trip to the NBA Finals on Saturday, the Pacers are back in a place they have not been since Larry Bird was the head coach in 2000. All of Indianapolis is celebrating, including the Colts who paid tribute to their now-former owner in the process.

The Colts’ official X account put out a video with a compilation of tweets Irsay sent out about the Pacers throughout the years. Captions “FOR JIM!!!!!!” with the hashtags “#YesCerts” and “#ThankYouJimIrsay.”

A nice crossover for the Colts and Pacers in a fantastic moment for Indianapolis. You can check it out here.

The Pacers had a classic playoff matchup against the New York Knicks, bringing back memories of the Reggie Miller days. Some nostalgia certainly played a role but Indianapolis was more than ready to watch their team play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Saturday brought Game 6 back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse after a tough Pacers loss inside Madison Square Garden. It felt as if the Pacers needed to get the job done and not return to New York for a winner-take-all Game 7. Winning 125-108, the job got done.

Based on the tweets from Irsay, you would have been incredibly thrilled to see the Pacers have this kind of success. Now, they are four wins away from winning the franchise’s first NBA Championship.

More on Jim Irsay, time with Indianapolis Colts

Irsay began his affiliation with the Colts in 1972, when his father, Robert Irsay, purchased the team. At that time, the Colts were in Baltimore, and the younger Irsay worked in every department. In 1984, Jim Irsay became the Colts’ general manager when the team moved to Indianapolis. He assumed day-to-day operations in 1995 when his father suffered a stroke. In 1997, Irsay became the owner at 37 after his father died.

In his 28 seasons as owner, Irsay saw the Colts win 10 division titles, play in two Super Bowls and win the Super Bowl title during the 2006 season. In Janurary, Irsay wrote a leter to Colts fans about the team’s challenging 2024 season.

On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this report