Tinsley is waiting to be traded or bought out of his contract, perceived as the last bad actor in Sheriff Larry Bird's efforts to clean up the franchise.

"Conduct counts in everything every time you put together a team," Magic General Manager Otis Smith said. "I think now players are starting to figure that out. It's more than just X's and O's. It's also what else surrounds that player. Is it going to fit with your group?"

The Pacers are paying Tinsley $6.7 million this season as a no-show. The New York Knicks are also paying tabloid target Stephon Marbury a whopping $22 million not to play this season as he awaits a buyout. No surprise -- the Knicks can't find a trade partner.

The Portland Trail Blazers -- long lampooned as "The Jail Blazers" -- were able to trade some of their bad actors (Zach Randolph) and rebuild their image over the past several years.

The Pacers' problems started with the infamous "Brawl At The Palace," the 2004 fisticuffs with Detroit fans that involved walking migraines Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest. Then came the gun-play outside an Indianapolis strip club featuring Jackson, Tinsley and Marquis Daniels.

In February 2007, Tinsley and Daniels were involved in a bar brawl.

The Pacers took action with transactions. Artest was moved two years ago. Jackson was shipped out last season in a deal for less talented players who had salary-cap strapping contracts (including Michael Dunleavy Jr. and Troy Murphy). Shawne Williams was dealt to Dallas last month after a marijuana charge while Daniels remains with the team.

Not only have the Pacers floundered since their 61-win season in 2003-04 -- following it with 44, 41 and 35 victories the next three seasons -- disgusted fans in the Indiana heartland have responded to the misbehavior loudly.

They stopped buying tickets in a sagging economy. The Pacers ranked last in the league in attendance last season at an average of just 12,222, a far cry from the 18,345 for the 1999-2000 season.

Was it any wonder that Stan Van Gundy turned down the chance to coach this reclamation project?

For an icon such as Bird, remaking the Pacers as the team's president of Basketball operations has been brutal.

"It's a killer. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and think about it. That's not what Basketball is about," Bird told the Indianapolis Star News. "I've never had that before . . . getting the 6:30 [a.m.] phone calls telling me one of my players got in trouble the night before."

The Pacers are making the tough climb back with character players and a positive marketing campaign, averaging a little over 13,700 fans per game this season.

Van Gundy says Magic ownership has "put a premium on players who represent the team and the community well. So they haven't run into those problems."

Smith believes in signing upstanding citizens and working to develop Magic players as people.

"You can't win a championship without character guys. It bleeds together," he said.

Some players with sullied reputations are not necessarily bad guys, says Van Gundy, who adds, "Sometimes people just get caught up in things -- wrong place, wrong time. I've been around guys who have been labeled as trouble.

"Lamar Odom comes to mind. We got him in Miami. He was supposed to be a problem, with off-the-court issues. But he's one of the finest people I've been around."

Van Gundy says you need great players and grounded people -- an often tricky union.

"Look, you also have to balance stuff. You got to win games," he said. "I know a lot of nice people I don't want playing for us. The key is to get good players who will be great for the community. You got to get guys who will win for you and do that."