NBA Team To Wear Uniforms From The Movie 'Hoosiers'

Who among us didn't get a little misty eyed when Jimmy Chitwood got nothing but net on that jumper to give his fictional Hickory High team the Indiana State basketball title?

So this coming season, the NBA's Indiana Pacers will don Hickory's red and gold to celebrate the movie 'Hoosiers' 30th Anniversary. And this gives me an excuse to play my favorite clips from the movie for you. 'I love you guys'

It's hard to believe that it's been thirty years since Gene Hackman starred as Norman Dale, a spurned college coach who taught a bunch of small town school kids the game of basketball.

The movie is chock full of great movie moments, from Dennis Hopper's Shooter Flatch calling for 'the old picket fence' play, to Dale's love affair with the reticent Myra Fleener (played by Barbara Hershey), to little Ollie sinking two big free throws to send the team to the State Finals.

This season, in conjunction with the anniversary and MGM Films, the Indiana Pacers will wear the team's familiar red and gold uniform, right down to the '50s era silk shorts for several games.

"Our team will be honored to wear the Hickory uniforms because of the attention it will bring to the storied history of Indiana basketball and the success of that movie," said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. "Hoosiers takes us all back to a special place and time."

And who can forget Dale's speech before the team stepped out for the regional championship game? It's among the best ever in sports movie motivational speeches, plus it concludes with the ever popular 'slow clap'.

And then there's the prayer before the championship game. Gets me every time. Especially when he says 'I love you guys'