MILWAUKEE -- The Pacers got the smallest glimmer of hope in the final minute of a miserable fourth quarter on Monday night when Pascal Siakam tracked down a missed free throw from Jarace Walker to keep the ball in Indiana's possession with just over a minute to go. They were down seven points, but if they could turn that possession into points, they might have had a chance at a comeback if everything broke their way.
But it was an old friend who denied them.
Pacers forward Obi Toppin saw a clean lane to the basket when he got the ball beyond the arc at the elbow with 3.7 seconds left on the shot clock and he bolted for the rim, but Bucks center and all-time Pacers blocked shots leader Myles Turner shuffled into the lane to meet Toppin at the restricted area arc. Turner contested the shot and didn't get a hand on it, but did force Toppin to alter his attempt at the rim. Toppin put it high off the glass but it missed the rim entirely, Turner grabbed the rebound and effectively secured what would eventually be a 110-102 win for Milwaukee over the Pacers, giving the Bucks their first win of the season after an 0-3 start nd their first win of the post-Giannis Antetokounmpo era. Since Turner left the Pacers in 2025, he's 5-0 with the Bucks against his old team, which spent all of last season in injury-related turmoil.
It's also the first win for Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins, who took over this offseason after Doc Rivers announced his retirement.
"It's good just to get that first one out of the way," Turner said afterward."We knew we were inching closer and closer the first few games of the season. It's just really been about the energy and the spirit that we've been building since camp. Really back in September we were on a little mini-camp. The guys started coming together and buying in to who Taylor is and what he embodies."
Turner, of course, didn't expect his second year in Milwaukee to be anything like this when he left the Pacers to sign with the Bucks in free agency in July of 2025. Turner's decision was as much about business as it was about basketball as he signed a four-year deal with the Bucks worth approximately $109 million. Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard acknowledged after the signing that the Pacers hadn't made that big of an offer, though he also expressed disappointment that Turner didn't give the Pacers a chance to match before committing to Milwaukee. However, Turner also said at the time that he chose Milwaukee because after getting a taste of the NBA Finals with the Pacers in 2025, he wanted another shot at a title and figured he could get one pairing with an all-time great in Antetokounmpo.
Instead, Turner finds himself as an elder statesman on a team that's starting over. Antetokounmpo -- who earned two MVP awards with the Bucks and led them to the 2021 title -- was traded to the Miami Heat just before the draft in June along with veteran teammate Bobby Portis for a huge package of players and draft picks that effectively represents a total organizational reset. The 30-year-old Turner is now the third-oldest player on the Bucks' roster but also the most experienced with 11 NBA seasons under his belt. After hearing his name as the subject of trade rumors for years in his time in Indiana, he's once again aware that he has little in the way of job security, as the Bucks would have plenty of obvious reason to move a contract of his size.
But Turner seems at peace with all the tumult -- or at least he did Monday after the Bucks got a win on the board -- and has embraced what the organization has asked from him.
"I like the youthful exuberance, the youth movement we've got going now" Turner said. "Being able to use my voice and just show guys what it means to be an impactful player and an impactful human in this league."
Turner feels rejuvenated after what was a tough first season and all the drama involving Antetokounmpo's departure in part because he has connected so quickly with Jenkins, who was the Grizzlies head coach from 2019-25. Turner was apparently less impressed with Rivers -- who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame this summer -- as Turner ruffled more than a few organizational feathers when he spoke at length on his "Game Recognize Game podcast with New York Liberty star Brenna Stewart in May about what he saw as a lack of accountability on the team. Turner said Rivers "didn't fine anybody" for transgressions which led to players -- particularly Antetokounmpo -- pushing boundaries.
Antetokounmpo played just 36 games last season due to injuries and the Bucks finished in the lottery at 32-50. Turner struggled individually as well, averaging 11.9 points per game -- his second-lowest figure in his career -- on a career worst 44% shooting with a career-low 5.3 rebounds per game.
"Guys were showing up to film whenever they wanted to show up," Turner said on the podcast. "Guys were missing meetings. It was one of the craziest things I personally ever experienced."
Turner and Jenkins connected not long after Jenkins was hired in April, and developed a good relationship quickly. Turner praised Jenkins at length in his locker-room press gathering after Monday's win and his compliments of his new coach doubled as further pointed critique of his old one.
"It's been dope, man," Turner said. "I really rock with Taylor, who he is as a person and what he stands for as a coach. The accountability aspects of it have been unbelievable. He holds everybody to the same standard no matter who the player is. He just demands just our focus and our energy on such a high level every single day. He doesn't stand for any lackadaisical nonsense."
Jenkins speaks of Turner with the same level of high regard, as he's appreciated having a veteran ally in what is likely to be a difficult first year. It's been notable to Jenkins that Turner has made a point to keep the team connected away from the court as he organized a group of players to go to Game 1 of the World Series at American Family Field on Friday.
"Myles has been awesome," Jenkins said. "One of the first guys that I was able to connect with when I got hired. He's everything we stand for. He's all about the culture we're trying to bring here. The level of detail, the level of accountability, the togetherness, he's been leading that charge for sure. Love seeing him utilize his voice on and off the floor, in our film rooms. The social aspect of how he's getting the guys together over the course of the summer. Early in the season, his work ethic you can just go down the line. He's backing up what he's saying with his actions too."
He's had to maintain his level of energy even as he's struggled on the offensive end. On Monday night he grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots and was +14 in his 28 minutes, but he was 2 of 7 from the floor and 0 of 3 from 3-point range for just six points. Through the first four games he's averaging just 7.3 points per game on 36.7% shooting including 23.5% (4 of 17) from beyond the 3-point arc. He's blocked 11 shots already, however, and has 22 rebounds so he's leaning on defensive impact in hopes the offensive numbers will come.
"The biggest thing about me is I just want to impact winning," Turner said. "I think that's been Taylor's message to me since camp is just finding ways to be who I am. Obviously, offensively it's not going the way I want it to go right now, but I'm a two-way player. That's not the only thing I do. ... As the season goes along I've got to carry more of my weight on the offensive side, but defensively it's always who I've been in this league is one of the better shot blockers."
Even if he abides by Jenkins' commands, Turner knows there's a chance that won't keep him on the roster long term. However after having made one move away from the team that drafted him and employed him for his first 10 years in the league in Indiana, he seems less bothered by the prospect of making another move.
"I can't control the future," Turner said. "I can control what I can do day in and day out in the present. That's what I've been doing is staying in the present. If you continue to worry about the future, then that kind of knocks you off of what our goal is. That's to build, brick by brick, every single day. I think that's what we stand for with the Bucks is that day-by-day mentality. We've gotten so much better at that since the preseason. Now our job is a team is to keep getting better. It would be selfish for me to worry about the future when there's so much to look forward to in the present."
But he is also investing in the future of the NBA in hopes that he can use his experience to help the league as a whole. This offseason he was elected vice president to the National Basketball Players Association's executive committee, replacing the retired Garrett Temple.
"I kind of wanted to get in to experience what it's like to be behind those doors where those negotiations go on," Turner said. "As someone who has a voice in this league, someone who has been in this league for 12 years now, I've lived through about three (collective bargaining agreements). I studied it myself and I want to be able to represent not only myself and our players but the next generation coming in. This league has been incredible to me. I've made a lot of money in this league. I've made a lot of relationship in this league. Now it's about leaving it in a better place."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'Myles has been awesome': How Myles Turner is adapting to Bucks' changes