Pacers with guns

Want to know who is going to win the NBA's Eastern Conference this year?

You can probably eliminate the Indiana Pacers right about .... now.

This from the Associated Press via CNNSI.com:

"Indiana Pacers player Stephen Jackson was hit in the mouth, struck by a car and fired a gun outside a strip club early Friday, police said. Jackson, 28, told officers he fired his 9 mm pistol four or five times in the air in self-defense after he was punched and hit by a car outside the club, said Sgt. Matthew Mount, spokesman for the Indianapolis Police Department.
Jackson went up onto the hood of the car, Mount said."

"... An argument involving patrons, Jackson and other members of the Pacers began inside the club, Mount said. The players said they left the club, but patrons followed them outside.
'At some point when leaving the club, a verbal altercation ensued that turned into a physical altercation,' Mount said."

"... The other Pacers at the scene were Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels and Jimmie Hunter.
Tinsley and Daniels also had guns in their cars, and all three players had permits for the weapons, Mount said, although Daniels' permit was issued in Florida."

So let me get this straight: Jackson, the best player on the team, allegedly just fired a gun in the air and got rammed by a car? And Tinsley and Daniels, two other potential starters, had guns in their cars? In downtown Indianapolis, where the primary danger is uneven concrete on the sidewalks?

If this is how the Pacers celebrate their coach's contract extension, heaven only knows what they do at a birthday party.