On the eve of the biggest game in Indiana Pacers history in 25 years, Game 7 of the NBA Finals came devastating news for the community. Fans, friends, and family, everyone knew and loved Matt Dial, a longtime Pacers photographer. A lifelong supporter of the Blue and Gold, Dial had been fighting Stage 4 colon cancer since early 2023. But he did not plan bucket-list vacations.
Instead, he went to the Smoky Mountains, to Branson, a place where he could make simple, meaningful memories with his wife and kid. Even as the treatments ravaged his body and the pain became unbearable, he held on. All for one wish.
Matt did not ask for a parade or front row seats in OKC. He just wished to live long enough to see the Indiana Pacers win an NBA Championship. The team he spent years photographing, the team that gave him joy when everything else in his life was consumed by pain. But just one day before the Pacers take the floor for the franchise’s first-ever shot at an NBA title, Dial died.
With this news, NBA Twitter came alive with emotion. The Pacers community responded to the news by calling their team to action. It was immediate and raw, “@TyHaliburton DO YOUR THING TONIGHT ,” one user said. The emotion quickly turned into a rallying cry. For a team on the edge of history, Game 7 now carries even more weight. Another fan chimed in, “Win this s__t for Dial. #YesCers .” It is about banners, yes, but it is also about honoring a man who gave so much of his life, his heart, and his lens to capturing the Pacers’ story. @BSportsIndy echoed the same sentiment, “Win this for Matt!”.
@TyHaliburton22 DO YOUR THING TONIGHT https://t.co/q0RxmPt2ZP
— Bryce ( IUCs biggest supporter ) (@shoestring23_) June 22, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton has already done the impossible once. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, carrying the weight of a city, he delivered, 21 points, an impressive 13 assists. His presence alone willed Indiana forward. And tonight? The stakes are even higher. “So much of these games comes down to who’s going to start the fight,” Haliburton said.
What he did not say, though, something everyone else knows, is that Haliburton is the fight. Calm in the chaos, the smile in the storm. And he won’t do it just for the headline. He will do it for every fan who waited. For Noah and Aaron Dial, who lost their dad. For Matt, who gave everything to this team. For the city, that has been aching for this moment for decades.
As for Matt Dial, he did not get to see the Pacers make it through the finals. However, he was there when they won the Eastern Conference. Here’s what happened.
The Final Trip to Gainbridge
In late May, as Matt’s health declined, his friends and the Pacers community rallied around him for one last basketball miracle. With help, he made it from his home in Zionsville to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, a night that turned into a storybook moment.
Indiana won! Matt was there, beside his sons, soaking it all in. “I never thought I’d get that chance to go with him again,” said Noah. The Pacers punched their ticket to the NBA Finals that night. And Matt was part of it. And while Dial did not make it to see the Pacers’ moment in history, he did get to see a city ignite, a team he loved rise from underdog to contender. And a family and a community that stood by him until the very end.
At Matt’s request, there will be no funeral. Instead, his wife, Shelley, says there will be a celebration. A party to honor his life, the memories he made, from behind the lens at Pacers games to quiet family road trips and late-night basketball debates. “I was going to cry anyway (if they won it),” Noah said. “But I would cry even more because, you know, he’s been waiting for this. And he might not see another run.”
No matter what happens on Sunday, Matt Dial will forever be a part of this story, as the Pacers attempt to pull off the ultimate underdog story.
The post Tyrese Haliburton Gets Emotional Plea as Ex-Pacers Employee Passes Away After Cancer Battle appeared first on EssentiallySports.