Damien Wilkins proud of his time and impact with the Pacers
Damien Wilkins knew his fate by 2:00 pm on Saturday, five hours before the Pacers faced the Chicago Bulls at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.\nWhat he didn\u2019t know was that he would start in his final game with the team.\nBojan Bogdanovic was a late scratch due to a sprained left ankle and head coach Nate McMillan wanted Lance Stephenson to resume playing with the second unit again after he had started in place of an injured Victor Oladipo the past four games.\nSo Wilkins not only played in his final game with the Pacers, but he also started. It was his first start since 2013 \u2014 with the Philadelphia 76ers, in Indianapolis of all places.\nWilkins met with President Kevin Pritchard and General Manager Chad Buchanan after practice on Sunday. Then, after more than an hour, he met with reporters before taking the elevator down to the first floor of the St. Vincent Center and walking to his car.\n\u201cI knew yesterday what was happening so it was long day yesterday, as you can imagine, to find out that news before I get to the gym. \u2026 It turned out to be a great night for our team and for me personally, it was amazing. I didn\u2019t want the game to end. I just wanted to keep playing. I wish we could still be playing that game right now.\n\u201cIt\u2019s the business of it. It\u2019s the beast of it. I\u2019m proud of myself, though. I told KP [Pacers President Kevin Pritchard], coach, and those guys that. Coming from where I came from, so many people told me that this wasn\u2019t going to happen for me and it did. I proved a lot of people wrong and proved myself right. In just the short time that I\u2019ve been here \u2014 it\u2019s been the absolute best. I can\u2019t even really put it into words.\n\u201cIt\u2019s been an unbelievable feeling to have the impact that my teammates tell me that I have on them in that locker room, to be able to go there and be effective on the floor in the time that I\u2019ve gotten the minutes to play, it\u2019s been an unbelievable journey.\n\u201cI don\u2019t say that to say the journey is over with, because it\u2019s going to hard for me to say that one day, but the reality is that it\u2019s getting close. I definitely wanted to finish this year out playing \u2014 and that\u2019s not over with yet so I\u2019m encouraged.\u201d\n(Watch Wilkins\u2019 full comments below. It\u2019s worth your time.)\n\nWilkins, who signed a one-year deal worth $1,471,382, was waived by the Pacers Sunday after practice. He was only guaranteed $25,000 in training camp, earned a roster spot for opening day, and made it 39 games.\nHe did not take a moment to address his teammates but said Saturday was an emotional night for him, knowing that he was going to be released, and for the team, having lost their previous five games.\n\u201cI just wanted to relish in the moment. I didn\u2019t even want to revisit it emotionally or mentally, or verbally for that matter.\n\u201c\u2026 Honestly, that was the easiest game that I\u2019ve ever played because at that point you kind of knew your fate, right? It was no pressure. Like I said, I just didn\u2019t want it to end. It was so poetic to find out that I was starting and no one even knew that I knew.\u201d\nWilkins plans to call every single guy tonight.\n[Damien Wilkins and his fianc\xe9 are expecting a baby boy in May.]\nBy waiving him, the Pacers now have flexibility with one roster spot open. They could sign a second two-way player, sign a free agent, acquire a player via trade, or sign someone to a 10-day contract.