Hooped Up

Yesterday, Sam Perkins was named Vice President of Player Relations. Hopefully the former Pacer can keep the Pacer players out of court for one season.

Sam Perkins knows all about the numerous off-court incidents involving Indiana Pacers players the past few years. Perkins, who played on the Pacers’ 2000 NBA Finals team, now plans to mentor players to make sure incidents don’t happen again as part of his new role as the team’s vice president of player relations. “I’m aware of the things that went on,” Perkins said Monday in a phone interview. “True, it’s not all their faults. There’s a lot reasons for some of the stuff, but there’s no excuse for it. . . . You just have to hopefully put it in the past and use that stuff as an example. “I want to face the challenges in front of me and help the players mature in life.”

Indianapolis Star