Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

CHARLOTTE — The life that Lance Stephenson now leads looks a lot different than the one he had in Indiana.

For one, he dresses in a locker room soaked in white, purple and teal hues, under a ceiling crafted to appear like a beehive. He lives alone in a downtown condominium where a personal chef prepares the kinds of healthy meals he once eschewed during his time in Indianapolis. And now, five years in the league, Stephenson is asked to be a leader on a young roster that even features a teenager, former IU player Noah Vonleh.

Life has changed for Stephenson, who signed a three-year deal worth $27 million with Charlotte as an unrestricted free agent in July. However on Thursday, before the Hornets played his former team, Stephenson said the change did not come easy. In an interview with The Star, Stephenson said his first choice was to stay with the Pacers.

"I wanted to be there," Stephenson said.

Stephenson, 24, sat comfortably in the newly remodeled home locker room inside Time Warner Cable Arena. He flashed that sheepish smile of his when talking about dinner with old teammates on Wednesday. However, according to Stephenson, the events through July made it all but certain that he would leave them behind.

At the start of free agency, the Pacers came hot after their homegrown Stephenson. The team threw a party in his honor that lasted into midnight July 1, the first day free agents and teams could talk, and then aggressively pitched their best offer — a five-year, $44 million deal.

The Pacers wanted to wrap up the deal quickly and Stephenson said that Larry Bird, team president of basketball operations, set a timeframe to accept the money.

"I wanted to stay there but they gave me a deadline where I had to choose," Stephenson said. "So there wasn't no time for me to make a decision. They gave me a deadline (before) how long it (was) going to take for them to go somewhere else.

"I had to make a quick decision and me and my agent decided we would see what other teams (were) talking about."

On July 2, the Pacers turned their attention to Plan B and agreed to terms with free agent CJ Miles. In Stephenson's view, the Miles' deal sealed his departure from the Pacers.

"They didn't have nothing else. They had no more money or anything. That was basically it right there," Stephenson said. "Soon as I said no to that offer, they went and signed CJ. I figured they thought I had no chance of coming back, they just went on and signed CJ. … I felt like it was a wrap after that."

The reasoning behind a free agent like Stephenson taking a three-year deal, instead of a five-year contract, is that the player believes he could command a more lucrative deal if he performs at a high rate during the shorter term. But even though the Pacers came back and offered Stephenson four- and three-year contracts, the options did not entice him to stay.

"They said shorter deals but it didn't make no sense to do the deals that they were talking about," Stephenson said. "I figured I'd just go somewhere else where I could be more happy and I feel like I'm playing (for) at least what I'm worth."

Now as a $9 million dollar man, Stephenson can afford to pick up the bill at dinner and on Wednesday, he took out George Hill and Roy Hibbert to a local restaurant.

"We told him he hasn't paid for a (meal) since I've been in Indiana with him," Hill said. "So, I told him when he gets that new deal, it was going to be on him. He actually paid the bill last night."

While that dinner included countless laughs and plenty of reminiscing, there's one reunion that will have to wait. Stephenson has not communicated with his former mentor, Bird, since leaving for Charlotte.

"There ain't no hard feelings. That's my guy, but I haven't talked to him," said Stephenson, who expects to see Bird on Nov. 19 when he returns to Indiana for the first time as a Hornet.

"Definitely," Stephenson said. "I'm going to speak to him."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.