Dana Hunsinger Benbow

dana.benbow@indystar.com

Poor Ben Higgins was just trying to go on his hometown date in Warsaw, Ind. — a fun night out of playing basketball with Lauren B.

And things were going pretty good until someone way cooler — and better at basketball — than him (sorry Ben) came waltzing in and crashed that date. A couple of NBA superstars.

Indiana Pacers player Paul George will appear on Monday's episode of "The Bachelor" along with teammate George Hill, coach Frank Vogel and Pacers mascot Boomer. The show airs 8 p.m. on ABC.

Crashing the date may be too strong of a description of what the Pacers crew did on the show, according to Todd Taylor, senior vice president/chief sales and marketing officer for the team. But it's close.

"We do participate in the date. I guess you could say we crashed it, but it's not the intimate setting you might imagine," Taylor said. "ABC, of course, wants to keep it under tight wraps so people will watch it."

Photos reveal, however, that Higgins and Lauren were on a basketball date.

Good choice by Higgins, a Warsaw native and former high school quarterback who also played basketball in high school. He has been dubbed "Perfect Ben" by ABC and is in the middle of his season as the front man on the popular reality series.

'The Bachelor' Ben Higgins still 'a nobody' in Warsaw, Ind.

The network first wanted to go to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and do some filming, but things didn't work out due to training camp and preseason games, Taylor said.

So after practice one day, George, Hill, Vogel and Boomer jumped on a chartered helicopter and flew to Warsaw to film the episode.

"Just so fans know, they didn't miss any practice," Taylor said. "They were still highly focused on basketball."

This isn't the first TV appearance for George. He, along with Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard and LeBron James will make guest appearances on two Cartoon Network shows Thursday. James will be in "Teen Titans Go!" and Irving, Lillard and George will appear in "We Bare Bears."

Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard and LeBron James to make a guest appearance on Cartoon Network

"Before you know it, he's going to be a big TV star," Taylor said of George.

Of course, that's not bad for the Pacers one bit.

"At the end of the day, 8.5 million people watched 'The Bachelor' on Monday," he said. "That's pretty good coverage for people that may not be NBA fans."

Or may not be Pacers fans — who after seeing the team on "The Bachelor" decide that they are.

Follow IndyStar reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow.