“It is not my mom …”: TJ McConnell’s Sincere Admission on the viral second of the NBA remaining Initially appeared on Sports activities Athlon.
The Indiana Pacers have accomplished the NBA 2024-25 NBA marketing campaign with their first season of fifty victories in additional than a decade (2013-14) and the primary look within the NBA remaining since 2000.
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Beneath the veteran chief coach Rick Carlisle, the Pacers received the pinnacle of 4 within the East earlier than going out the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 5 video games, then surviving the New York Knicks in six video games within the Japanese Convention remaining.
Within the NBA remaining, the Indiana pushed 68 wins at Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder to the sting, stealing match 1 on the street earlier than alternating as much as a final match 7 on the Paycc Heart.
There, in a necessary state of affairs, the TJ McConnell safeguarded broke out with 16 factors, six rebounds and three assists, regardless of the ultimate of the sequence ending with a defeat of 103-91.
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Within the midst of the after-game fallout got here a viral diffusion clip: cameras following a mcConnell in tears within the tunnel, the place a protecting lady chased them, a lady that many followers by means of social media presupposed to be her mom.
Tuesday, in McConnell gamers’ function “It was horrible, it meant the whole lot,” McConnell set the file straight: the girl is Karen Atkeson, vice-president of the Pacers gamers’ relationships.
Indiana Pacers Guard TJ McConnell (9) leads for a lay-up in opposition to Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder Ahead Jalen Williams (8) within the NBA remaining. © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Pictures
Throughout six seasons collectively, McConnell says that Atkeson has change into “like a household”, and his instinctive protection of his non-public life after match 7 “says quite a bit … as a result of a sure means that’s what our mentality was in a group all season. We did this with the household.”
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Initially not drafted in 2015, McConnell signed with Indiana in 2019 and has since climbed within the prime 10 leaders of the franchise, amassing 2,080 dimes, ninth time completely For the Pacers.
He collected on common 9.1 factors, 4.4 assists and 1.1 interceptions in simply 17.9 minutes per recreation final season, and within the playoffs, had The second finest pie (Estimation of the impression of the gamers) of any participant who participated in additional than 20 video games, behind solely the MVP of the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander League.
McConnell collected a median of 12.0 factors, 4.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and a couple of.1 interceptions on seven video games from the NBA remaining, with its vitality and its defensive tenacity resulting in a number of fluctuations of Momentum and at emblematic moments which outlined the historic race of the Pacers.
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This story was initially reported by Sports activities Athlon On July 22, 2025, the place he appeared for the primary time.
