Rest easy, Indiana Pacers fans: Herb Simon isn’t selling the team.
Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star reports that Simon is planning to keep the team in Indiana as long as he’s alive. Simon also announced that the team eventually will belong to Steve Simon, his 53-year-old son.
For the elder Simon, this is about his legacy.
“I want to leave my legacy: this team permanently in Indianapolis,” Simon told IndyStar Friday in an interview at Bankers Life Arena. “That’s my No. 1 goal.”
Simon bought the Pacers in 1983 with his older brother, Melvin – who died in 2009 at age 82 – but had never publicly discussed succession plans for the franchise until Friday, when he told IndyStar the team someday will be owned by his 53-year-old son, Steve.