Aaron Holiday was taking a significant stride forward in his second NBA season when the schedule was abruptly put on hold five weeks ago. The Pacers' first-round pick in 2018 was averaging 23.6 minutes and 9.4 points in 58 games — 26 of which he started — and shooting more accurately than in his rookie season in all departments. His assist-to-turnover ratio also had improved.

He's staying as active as possible from his home on the city's near north side.

BY AARON HOLIDAY (as told to Mark Montieth)

I'm staying in Indianapolis. I wanted to wait until we get word back form the NBA on what is going to happen with the season. I didn't want to travel to L.A. and back on a flight; that would be a lot with the coronavirus going on. I think it's best to stay here and wait until we decide what we're doing.

Mostly I only leave the house to go to the grocery store and then head back home. I've stayed away from public areas. I'm just keeping my distance and staying inside. My cousin lives with me and my girlfriend is here a lot, but she has her own place. My brother Justin is still here in town as well. I saw him one time since the season was called off, but we're keeping our distance and staying safe.

Mostly I'm just chilling and hanging out. I go on Netflix and try to watch a show at night. See what I like and don't like. I have nothing but time, so I try to go in and check out different stuff. I try to watch old-school movies if I can, the ones I liked back in the day — like Space Jam, the Toy Story movies, and The Bourne Ultimatum.

I'm trying to get back into video games, too. I'm playing the Call of Duty games. It makes me a little dizzy, but I'm playing games just to pass the time. I haven't watched much basketball. My coaches send me clips from our games, but that's about all the basketball I watch now.

My boredom is at an all-time high right now, that's for sure, but I'm not really getting stir crazy. I have a nice-sized backyard and I can go out there and play with my dogs. I have a German Shepherd named Blu and a Pit Bull mix named Ash. My girlfriend brings her dog over, too. She has a Doberman.

I've stayed in touch with my teammates, too. We text back and forth — the whole team, sometimes. We've communicated like we normally do, actually. Mostly texting; it's easier to text than to call everybody.

I've been able to work out just about every day. I'm able to just go downstairs and get a workout in. It's easy. Just wake up and go downstairs. It's really nice.

Our strength and conditioning coach, Shawn Windle, sends us workouts and I have a workout room downstairs that I built myself. I have dumbbells, trap bars, and a bench rack. I also have a treadmill.

There's a program on the treadmill that has intervals on it, so I can adjust that. You run for a certain amount of time, then drop back to a walking pace, and then you go back and run again. It simulates the stopping and going in the game.

I don't try to run and lift on the same day. I probably lift three times a week and run on the weekend. If I don't lift Wednesday or Friday, I'll run then, too. I feel like I've been able to maintain my strength at least, if not gotten a little stronger.

I can go outside to work on basketball skills. I have a basketball court in my driveway. I just work on shooting, trying to get my form right, and work on dribbling drills. My driveway is kind of hidden, so nobody's come over to try to play with me.

I love playing basketball, so it's easy for me to work at it. Once we get going again, I'll enjoy it once again. My mindset is such that I'm really not supposed to be here, so I'm thankful I've been given a chance to play and hopeful I'll get to play again. I say I'm not supposed to be here because I've often been told I wouldn't make it in the NBA. I was too short, or I wasn't good enough, or I'd never be as good as my brothers. Just this and that. I think I'm supposed to be here, but a lot of people didn't think so.

Because of that, I make it a point not to take any of it for granted. I know playing basketball isn't supposed to just happen. There are so many people out there who want to be in this position, so I try to look at it as if I'm going out there to make a team every day. I've been able to keep it in perspective, that it can be taken away from you at any point — which it has been now.

I don't know what to expect as far as the season goes. I've heard so many different scenarios of what's going to happen, that basketball is going to come back and it's not. I just try stay level-headed and stay in the present. Try to continue to work out and get better, preparing as if the season's going to continue. If it doesn't, I can't control that. Just do my part and stay in shape and focus on this season.

If we get called back, I think we'll have a training camp before we start playing. We'll gradually get into things again. I guess I'll just look at it like the beginning of the season. We have to get ready to play and perhaps play our way into shape. With the time off, obviously we'll be a little out of shape, but I think we can get into shape pretty quickly. Hopefully we can get out there and catch our wind pretty fast.