Pacers to discuss Tinsley's lifestyle following shooting

INDIANAPOLIS — More late night trouble for Jamaal Tinsley could present more problems for the Indiana Pacers.

Tinsley will meet today with team president Larry Bird and coach Jim O'Brien following a shooting incident in which the player was shot at early Sunday. It was Tinsley's third late-night episode in about 14 months, and the latest in a three-year string of incidents that have engulfed the franchise.

Tinsley and several companions were targeted in the shooting that wounded one person outside a downtown hotel. Tinsley wasn't injured. He didn't practice Sunday, but according to the team Web site, Pacers.com, Tinsley is scheduled to meet with Bird and O'Brien to discuss the team's course of action. The Pacers will play Cleveland on Tuesday night.

"This is something we can't just put right behind us and walk away from," Bird told Pacers.com. "It's something we'll have to discuss. I don't know how long it'll take and we'll continue to talk about it. We have to make a change, there's no question about it."

Police said the shooting involved an assault rifle and followed a confrontation when Tinsley and his companions were leaving the "Cloud 9" club.

O'Brien said Tinsley made an error in judgment by being out so late. Police were called at 3:40 a.m.

"It was not a good decision and that's basically it," O'Brien said. "I'm sure he knows that, and I'm sure there will be a lifestyle change for him. But, to the best of our knowledge, he was a victim."

The latest incident adds to the Pacers' reputation for finding trouble — or trouble finding them.

The well-documented brawl with Detroit Pistons fans was the start. The Pacers dealt with suspensions of Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson after the 2004 brawl, and Indiana eventually traded both players.

Tinsley has found trouble most often. He was present when Stephen Jackson fired a gun into the air several times before he was hit by a car at Club Rio in Indianapolis in October 2006.

Tinsley and another Pacers player, Marquis Daniels, both face charges stemming from a bar fight almost a year ago.

A grand jury indicted Tinsley on a felony charge of intimidation and misdemeanor counts of battery, disorderly conduct and intimidation in connection with a Feb. 6 fight at the 8 Seconds Saloon. Their trial is scheduled to start Jan. 14.

The latest incident is likely to overshadow perhaps Tinsley's best season.