This is Part 1 of a feature story on Pacers guard Donald Sloan. Read Part 2 »

Donald Sloan’s locker at Bankers Life Fieldhouse is right next to Roy Hibbert’s. When the media swarm descends upon the Pacers All-Star center’s locker after a game, the crowd often overflows into Sloan’s space.

On multiple occasions last season, Sloan wandered back from the shower while Hibbert was holding court with reporters. Whenever that happened, Hibbert stopped mid-sentence and asked the crowd to make some room so the soft-spoken backup point guard could get dressed.

After Wednesday’s season-opening win over Philadelphia, the roles were reversed.

Coming off his first career double-double, the 26-year-old Sloan was the one surrounded by a small sea of cameras, microphones, and tape recorders,. While he was talking, Hibbert emerged from the shower to find the crowd blocking the path to his locker.

“You’ve gotta tell them to make way for me,” Hibbert said. “I do the same thing for you.”

When he realized what had happened, a wry smile appeared across Sloan’s face as he quickly took action: “Yeah, you gotta make way for Big Dawg.”

The third-string point guard leads the least glamorous life of any player on an NBA roster. While the starters soak up the spotlight, the third point guard lives his life in the shadows. Interview requests are almost non-existent. His job is to stay quiet, bust his butt in practice, and stay ready in case of an injury. He’s basically a walking insurance policy that may or may not be cashed in.

That has been Donald Sloan’s role for the past year.

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Over the course of the 2013-14 season, Sloan appeared in 48 games, logging just 392 minutes of action. His number was called on occasion, for a short stint in November when starter George Hill nursed a sore hip and for a few more weeks in March when backup C.J. Watson dealt with elbow and hamstring issues.

But with Hill (bruised knee) and Watson (bruised foot) both sidelined for the first couple weeks of the 2014-15 season, Sloan suddenly finds himself thrust into the spotlight.

For now, he’s the starting point guard for the Indiana Pacers, and he’s embracing the opportunity.

Donald Sloan grew up south of Dallas. At Seagoville High School, Sloan was teammates with future NBA All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, a Parade All-American in 2004.

When Aldridge graduated, Sloan and Derrick Roland stepped into a starring role. The duo led Seagoville to the regional championship game as seniors and drew the attention of college coaches across the country.

In the celebrated recruiting class of 2006 (a class headlined by Greg Oden and Kevin Durant), Rivals.com ranked Sloan as the eighth-best point guard in the country and Roland as the 31st-best shooting guard.

Sloan and Roland were friends since elementary school. Midway through their senior year of high school, Sloan actually moved in with Roland’s family. So it wasn’t a surprise that they chose to attend college together, both committing to Texas A&M.

When Sloan got to College Station, the Aggies already had an established point guard named Acie Law. Law had a sensational senior season, earning consensus first team All-American honors, winning the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s best point guard, and leading the Aggies to the Sweet 16.

Despite being a heralded recruit, Sloan was asked to take on a smaller role as Law’s understudy.

Dustin Clark, currently an assistant coach at the University of Maryland, was an athletics assistant working with the Texas A&M basketball program at the time. He was impressed with the maturity Sloan displayed as a freshman.

“Sloan didn’t put his head down, didn’t pout,” Clark said. “He didn’t start, didn’t play starters’ minutes, but just accepted his role on a good team.”

Several years later, Sloan would find himself in a similar position in the NBA.

“Sitting behind Acie just kind of watching and learning, it’s definitely kind of the same here,” Sloan said. “Sitting behind G. Hill, C.J., watching, learning.”

Sloan's strong performance in the Orlando Summer League preceded an impressive training camp. (Photo: Getty Images)

Even before Hill and Watson went down, Sloan had shown signs that he might be ready to carry a bigger load.

He played very well in the Orlando Summer League, where he was the league’s third-leading scorer, averaging 18.5 points per game. An injury to Solomon Hill in practice forced coach Dan Burke to build the Pacers’ summer team offense around Sloan, and he excelled, dishing out 5.5 assists and leading Indiana to a third-place finish.

Over the rest of the summer, Sloan put in hundreds of hours fine-tuning his 3-point shot. He showed up to training camp noticeably more assertive, averaging 13.3 points and 3.8 assists in the preseason.

His teammates and coaches took notice.

“He’s definitely a different player this year,” George Hill said during the preseason. “He came back a lot more aggressive. He’s shooting the ball extremely well, making good plays offensively and defensively.”

When the Pacers announced last week that Hill would miss at least three weeks and Watson at least two, Sloan immediately got a full vote of confidence from his teammates.

“Donald’s been playing great (all training camp), even in practice,” Watson said. “I’m very confident he’s going to do a great job.”

Added second-year forward Solomon Hill: “He really showed everybody what he could do if the opportunity presented itself, and (now) the opportunity does present itself for him.”

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