Candace Buckner

CHARLOTTE – Lance Stephenson has already visualized the scene when his name is announced inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

He left his only NBA home in July, joining the Charlotte Hornets after a drawn-out month of free agency. He returns Wednesday night for the first time as an opponent. Though those closest to him have noticed the overdue maturity of an independent young man, he's still the same Coney Island kid bred on style and swagger: After knocking down practice 3-pointers on the Time Warner Cable Arena honeycomb-patterned floor, he struts past a Hornets assistant and calmly proclaims, "my (stuff) is strong, coach."

But the beneath the bravado lies Stephenson's self doubt about his return to Indianapolis.

Stephenson has already pictured the worst-case scenario for when his new team plays his former team ... and he's nervous.

"Honestly," he says. "I think I'm going to get booed."

***

Stephenson still has a life in Indiana. Four years in the same town will do that. So, before the game, he planned to visit the young players on his AAU team, Born Ready Elite, possibly take in a Tuesday night dinner with several Pacers and hit up his favorite shops.

The kids, his former teammates and retailers who are certainly happy to reap the benefits of Stephenson's new three-year, $27-million-dollar contract — Stephenson knows they all understand his move to Charlotte. It's the Pacers fans he's not so sure about.

These same fans still accepted Stephenson, a 2010 second-round draft pick, after he was arrested for allegedly pushing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs. These fans stood by him as a benchwarmer who flashed a choke sign at LeBron James, and later as a fearless starter who blew in the King's ear. Fans loved on him regardless; but Stephenson remembers the names of once adored Pacers who returned to a gauntlet of mad Hoosiers.

Psycho T. Tyler Hansbrough.

J Mac. Josh McRoberts

"Danny Granger ain't come back yet?" Stephenson asks.

When he hears that no, DG has not yet returned as a member of the hated Miami Heat, he's still unmoved.

"He'll probably get cheered," Stephenson guesses. "I don't know about me."

Stephenson's pessimism is rooted in his belief that he'll face an unforgiving crowd because of what happened this summer. After all, he left.

"I'm nervous," Stephenson says. "Just to see the fans' reaction of my decision."

The tale of how Stephenson and the Pacers came to part ways has been spun often since the summer. The Pacers have their side. Team Stephenson has its.

Back in July, Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said he did what he "could possibly do to keep (Stephenson) here." Last month, according to Stephenson, the team's deadline and early signing of CJ Miles required him to look elsewhere. Even today, there's still a lingering sense in Stephenson's camp that the Pacers' best offer of five-years, $44 million was low when factoring in the length of the contract.

In the end, it came down to money. And though the 'B' in NBA could stand for 'BUSINESS,' Lance Stephenson Sr. maintains that walking away wasn't a cold and calculated move.

"It was definitely a tough decision to leave but it almost was like we had no choice, to me. The next day, they signed CJ Miles so it was over from that point on," says Stephenson's father as he leaned against the hallway leading to the Hornets' home locker room. "It was tough. It wasn't like, 'Eff, the Pacers!' It was tough to leave. I didn't think it would happen. Before free agency, if you asked me where Lance was going to be, I would've said, 'He's going to be a Pacer for life.' That was one of our goals. I'm a firm believer in sticking with the team you got drafted by."

Still, that doesn't stop Lance Sr. from believing that fanatics will behave accordingly.

"I seen 'em boo Jermaine O'Neal. I've seen 'em boo Ron Artest, of course, but I don't know. I'm interested to see what will happen," Lance Stephenson Sr. says. "I know the fans want to win in Indianapolis, so I wouldn't be surprised if they boo. Like I'm going to be booing when they come here. If they're like me, they're going to be booing because they want that win."

***

They're not booing in Charlotte, but fans are still waiting.

"I think people have to be patient with him from the standpoint of – I mean, he's a (24)-year-old developing player," Hornets coach Steve Clifford says. "Lance is young. He's a two-year starter. I just think some people have these expectations of what we all hope he will become. It's a different role, he's more of a go-to player, focal point of the offense and it's different for him."

Early on, the marriage of the Hornets and Stephenson has looked like an odd pairing. After Charlotte missed out on its primary target, Gordon Hayward, the organization turned its attention to Stephenson as one of the remaining high-profile free agents. The team vetted Stephenson hard. Even Clifford, a Vermont guy – "a little different from Coney Island," he says – called his New York City sources for the skinny on Stephenson. So anything the Hornets heard, and already knew about on the topic of Good Lance vs. Bad Lance, they were not swayed on bringing in a young player with All-Star potential. Problem is, Good Lance has only shined through on occasion.

Through 11 games, the Hornets have not locked in a steady rotation because of a string of injuries. Stephenson banked in a game-winning 3-pointer in double overtime on Nov. 7, but he's often remained on the sideline during fourth quarters.

It hasn't been an easy adjustment for Stephenson to a new system and with teammates still unsure what to do with his flashy passes and madcap pedal-to-the-floor drives to the rim. During the fourth quarter of the Hornets' blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Stephenson started the fast break and dropped off a doozy of a pass to Bismack Biyombo, who couldn't catch the ball cleanly. When Biyombo blew the layup, Stephenson lifted his palms to the sky.

"Just trying to figure out everybody. It took me a while for Indiana to learn how I play, so it's going to take a while here," Stephenson says. "I've got more of a bigger role so I have the ball in my hands a little bit more. So they got to get used to my decision making because I make all types of passes that they're not used to. The Indiana Pacers got used to it the longer they played with me. But we're going to get it right."

Stephenson admitted to playing passive after he initially arrived, electing to pass up shots so that he would not step on toes. "You can tell that he's holding some things back and holding his game back a little bit," Hornets point guard Kemba Walker says. "Just worrying about what guys think."

The timidity, Stephenson says, has thrown off his shooting rhythm. Stephenson has largely played as a pick-and-roll ball handler off a high screen, far too often relying on a jump shot. Among the 27 players who average at least four pull-up shots per game and have made at least 10 game appearances this season, Stephenson has the worst average with the shot at 23.9 percent. While still an aggressive rebounder with an impressive 9.2 per game average, overall on offense, Stephenson has scored 9.5 points with a 37.8 overall percentage.

"Lance is a very talented player," says teammate Gerald Henderson, who pauses then smiles at his next notion: "I don't even know if he knows sometimes how good he is, some of the special things he can do on the court. He's had some really good games. I think he's still finding his way, I think as his teammate, he's just watching. He's still figuring things out on both ends."

***

Only last week did closure finally come to Stephenson – in the form of a box shipped from the Indiana Pacers.

Packed inside, Stephenson's last mementos of his time in Indiana: some team gear, too many And One sneakers, shirts and sweats to count and two pairs of shoes autographed by David West and George Hill. The Pacers had to clean out Stephenson's old stuff and ship it to Charlotte. After July, Stephenson never returned to retrieve them.

He's too been busy building a new life to look back. He has a modern contemporary luxury apartment, one with a skyscraper view from the 33rd floor of his new office space four blocks away. Though his parents live four floors up, this is the first time Stephenson has lived on his own.

He's learning to do laundry, bust suds in the kitchen sink, keep his stainless steel appliances spotless and mop his wood floors. Before, these chores belonged to Bernadette Stephenson as her son lived with his parents in Indianapolis so he could focus on playing ball. Now, he embraces these mundane responsibilities. Like a man.

"What I liked the most about it, you could start to see he's starting to mature a lot more," Hill said after visiting with Stephenson when the Pacers played their final preseason game in Charlotte. "He's just more humble. More humble about everything and blessed to be in the position that he is…That just shows you signs of maturity."

While Stephenson likes that he's coming into his own, a five-year veteran of the game and a 24-year-old adult off the court, he'll still soon feel like a rookie making his debut. Nervous and curious, Stephenson can't stop wondering about Wednesday.

"I swear I think I'm going to get booed, because I don't know if they think I'm the bad guy in my decision making," Stephenson says, "but I definitely wasn't the bad guy, so I don't know how they're going to take that."

"I was really into the fans there. When I first got there I had the little incident, they didn't know how to embrace me. They didn't really like me when I first came in and then I had to grow on them and once I grew on them, they learned my game, how I am on and off the court. They really embraced me there. I really loved the fans there."

The more he speaks, the more Stephenson gets excited about returning.

"I can't wait to see when I get there. I got to see for myself," Stephenson says, but adds cautiously: "I don't know."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

HORNETS AT PACERS

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

TV: FSI.

Radio: WFNI-1070 AM, 107.5 FM.

PACERS (4-7)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG Donald Sloan 12.6 5.0 apg SG Solomon Hill 12.6 6.0 rpg SF Chris Copeland 14.2 4.9 rpg PF Luis Scola 8.3 7.1 rpg C Roy Hibbert 13.6 8.1 rpg

HORNETS (4-7)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG Kemba Walker 14.7 4.5 apg SG Lance Stephenson 9.5 9.2 rpg SF Gerald Henderson 5.6 2.6 rpg PF Marvin Williams 6.5 3.3 rpg C Al Jefferson 20.0 6.6 rpg

STORYLINES

Iffy status: C.J. Miles is listed as doubtful because of a calf injury suffered during last Friday night's game. "Right now it is pretty shaky for (Wednesday)," Miles said. Previously, Miles had been out because of a migraine and other various symptoms that he said "broke down" his body. The shooting guard was able to practice Tuesday.

Getting noticed: A.J. Price was announced as a nominee for the Eastern Conference player of the week honor for his efforts during the Pacers' road win against the Bulls. He scored 21 points. "That's the first time ever (for me), so that's quite an accomplishment," Price said. The point guard just recently was approved for a second 10-day NBA hardship exception. Price averages 13 points a game.

Predication: The story of the game may be Lance Stephenson's return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the Pacers have more to worry about than a former teammate. Charlotte brings a high-scoring center in Al Jefferson and a productive, hands on backcourt. During the preseason, Indiana came away with the 88-79 win, and fans can expect a similarly low-scoring outing. Both the Pacers and Hornets are averaging less than 95 points per game (91.9 for the Pacers, 94.6 Hornets) this season. Like the Pacers, Charlotte has struggled with injuries early this season and will be without Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (foot). Similar problems on the court could lead this matchup to be back-and-forth bout, but the Pacers' tendency to spread the ball between more players might be the key in beating the Hornets. Indiana 90, Charlotte 82.

— Autumn Allison