David Benner was much more than the guy who Reggie Miller was always yelling at before Pacers games.
That’s how those of us of a certain age with a passing interest in the Pacers remember Benner — in TV clips of the team’s longtime media relations director and its all-time great shooting guard jawing through their pregame ritual.
While tipoff would come moments later and we’d move on, Benner left something here in Indianapolis: a legacy.
Benner died March 1, 2023, after an extended cancer battle. He was 67. IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel wrote this that day:
“David Benner wouldn’t say he was dying. Not his style. And this was a man of style — and substance. He worked for the IndyStar from 1979-1994, worked his way up from copy boy to the biggest beats in sports before shifting gears and working for the Pacers in media relations. An unusual career switch, something only the strongest of souls could do, but that was Benner. One of the strongest souls around.”
The lifelong Hoosier was also an insider. He grew up in Center Grove, attended IU-Bloomington and IUPUI, reported on the Pacers, Notre Dame football and IU basketball during his career at IndyStar, and went on to work 28 years for the Pacers.
See that photo of Miller’s arm around Benner during his retirement ceremony? That’s inside. That authentic connection was the underpinning of their pregame ritual, which Miller recounted at Benner’s memorial service:
“I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s David Benner. He’s the PR director for the Pacers. But his real job, though, is to be my antagonist,'” Miller said. “Their eyes get really big like, ‘Antagonist? What do you mean?’ and I’m like, ‘Well, he’s basically paid to say mean things to my face.'”
That ritual was special — anyone could see that — and earned through years of building connection and trust.
Connection and trust — the building blocks of community.
IndyStar is proud to have been part of Benner’s community. Of your community.
That’s why we’ve partnered with the Pacers Foundation and Pacers Sports & Entertainment, along with Benner’s family and friends to establish the David Benner Memorial Scholarship.
Announced during the Pacers’ Oct. 27 home opener against the 76ers, the $2,500 annual scholarships will support undergraduate students pursuing careers in journalism, radio, TV, digital broadcasting and other disciplines.
“David Benner personified excellence, professionalism, and dedication,” his brother Bill Benner, said in a statement from the Pacers Foundation. “That his name and reputation will be carried forward by this Pacers Foundation scholarship and the students who benefit is a wonderful tribute to his exemplary career.”
Applicants must be enrolled in a four- or two-year college or university in Indiana, and applications, which are being accepted through April 25, 2025, can be found at pacersfoundation.org/david-benner-memorial-scholarship.
Individual donations to the scholarship fund can also be made online.
There won’t ever be another David Benner. But his legacy can live on for the Pacers and IndyStar, maybe someday through an exemplary employee helped by the scholarship that bears Benner’s name.
Eric Larsen is IndyStar executive editor. Reach him at ericlarsen@indystar.com or 317-444-7342.
