Indianapolis native Scott Sholar, 25, was in a restroom at Bankers Life Fieldhouse when he heard the devastating news.

Sholar had bought two tickets for more than $200 total days before the Indiana Pacers' Feb. 8 game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

His friend Ryan Gallimore, 24, made the trip from Cincinnati to attend the game with him and the basketball fans were eagerly awaiting their first live-action viewing of 2019 No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson.

Sholar knew Pacers star Victor Oladipo likely wouldn't play (he didn't) because the game was the second of a back-to-back, but Williamson was a game-time decision with a left ankle sprain.

During pre-game, in the restroom, Sholar overheard another fan say Williamson would not play. Not only did Williamson and Oladipo sit out, but Pelicans All-Star Brandon Ingram also missed the game with a right ankle sprain.

To add insult to injury, the Pacers lost to the short-handed Pelicans 124-117, extending their losing streak to five.

"We lost. I didn't enjoy the game. I got to see (Zion) warm up at least, but I did not get to see him play," Sholar said. "The fact that I found out in a bathroom at the stadium after I was there specifically to see him, it was really disheartening and it made me less likely to buy tickets in advance."

Sholar is not alone in feeling the lack of star power at Pacers games. In fact, Pacers fans have had the worst luck in the NBA this season when it comes to seeing opposing stars.

The Pacers have missed the most 2019 and 2020 All-Stars – 13 – in the league. They are a mere 7-6 in the games those players sat out, making the Pacers one of six teams to produce a worse winning percentage against teams with missing All-Stars than overall.

The Pacers have missed: Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid (twice), Kawhi Leonard, Khris Middleton, Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin (twice), Nikola Vucevic, Pascal Siakam, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ingram.

Atlanta and Orlando are next, missing 12 and 10 All-Stars, respectively.

Larry Blackwell, 49, of Indianapolis said missing out on star players is part of today's NBA experience.

Blackwell said he attends 12 to 15 Pacers games per season. He went to both games against Philadelphia and he attended the Feb. 3 game against Dallas.

"It doesn't really matter to me because I'm a Pacers fan," Blackwell said. "I wanted to see Luka (Doncic) when Dallas came here. ... I understood. I wasn't necessarily disappointed. I did want to see him though.

"I can empathize with the fans of those teams, but I think it comes with the territory. Injuries are a part of the game. Injuries, they affect everything, so it's kind of the luck of the draw."

But there's a way for fans to get their money back when an All-Star sits. A company called Fansure allows fansto pay for insurance on the tickets, getting a refund in the event the player they came to see does not play.

It's a reaction to "load management," a terms that has become a hot-button issue in NBA circles. Pacers star Victor Oladipo will not play back-to-backs as he works his way to full strength after rupturing his right quad tendon last year. Last season, Kawhi Leonard missed all 12 of Toronto's back-to-backs because of load management. The reigning NBA champion Raptors' success will only feed into the trend.

Golden State Warriors fan Vijay Shravah, a former aerospace engineer at NASA, felt the annoyance of load management firsthand during the 2016 season.

Shravah and his friends were Golden State season ticket holders. They bought their tickets two days before Kevin Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Warriors and were thrilled to experience a historic NBA season.

To their dismay, they routinely attended games where star Warriors Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and opposing players traveling from the East Coast did not play due to load management.

"We spent all this money on season tickets and half the games weren't even good," Shravah said. "That kind of germinated in my head — why isn't there any kind of recourse for when this happens? Because the price point that people pay often reflects a certain star being in the game.

"When (star players) are not in the game, not only do you not get the experience you paid for, but even if you decided you didn't want to go to the game anymore your ticket value takes a hit once superstar players sit out."

Noticing a gap in the market, Shravah founded Fansure in October 2019.

He used his engineering background to develop a machine-learning predictive model (algorithm) that can estimate which games players are most likely to sit out. The algorithm determines each player's likelihood to sit out (sit risk) from low to high, which varies the price for ticket insurance if that player misses the game.

Fans can purchase 100%, 50% or 25% coverage on their tickets. If a fan pays $100 to see Jayson Tatum play the Pacers on March 10, 100% coverage would cost $17.62. If Tatum does not play, the fan could still attend the game and get his $100 ticket cost back. Coverage cannot be purchased if the player is already ruled out prior to the game, and no later than two hours before the start of the game.

The most protected players this season are LeBron James, Leonard and Irving.

"We're trying to provide at least an option to protect that uncertainty from happening," Shravah said. "The premise of our product is to protect from the unknown if somebody is going to play or not.

"If somebody is a game-time decision or doubtful, our pricing is going to be reflective of the likelihood of that player missing the game."

Since 2017, Shravah has focused on growing his company and developing his team.

He recruited Cole Kazemba, a fellow NASA engineer, to be his Technology/Data Science Director. He also added Dan Titus, a former project manager for Lockheed Martin responsible for analyzing cost, schedule, and performance for satellite and missile defense programs as his Strategic Partnerships Director. Also on board: Jackie Yee, a former biomedical student from Cornell; and Scott Kaplan, a UC Berkley PhD candidate who has done quantifiable research about the effects star players missing games has on ticket prices.

Company advisers include ESPN analyst and former NBA front office executive Amin Elhassan, and former NFL defensive end and current Fox Sports 1 analyst Marcellus Wiley.

Shravah said he'd love to see Fansure grow to be an integrated part of the ticket-buying process. He added that ticket reimbursement is just the first application of the algorithm. His analytics also could be useful for TV Networks, fantasy sports players and gamblers in the future.

For Pacers fans looking for insurance, Oladipo is uninsurable until March 1. Home games against Cleveland (March 21), and San Antonio (April 13) carry the highest likelihood of Oladipo sitting out.

For 100% coverage on a $100 ticket for the March 10 game against the Celtics, Oladipo would cost $26.40. He's a medium risk to sit out the game. Fellow All-Star Domantas Sabonis would cost $17.08 for coverage against the Celtics. He's also a medium risk to sit that game.

Opposing players of note for future Pacers game include Jimmy Butler on March 20 ($31.08 for $100 ticket, high sit risk), and James Harden and Russell Westbrook on March 27 ($16.19 for $100 ticket, low sit risk for Harden; and $23.29 for $100 ticket, medium sit risk for Westbrook).

Diehard Pacers fan Blackwell would not commit to using Fansure in the future. He's dedicated to rooting for the Pacers regardless of who is on the floor.

But Sholar, a fan who enjoys watching opposing players and Pacers players, said he would consider using Fansure for future ticket purchases.

Will Fansure change the ticket-buying landscape? Shravah left a career running missions for unmanned NASA rockets and satellites to make sure it does.