How Micah Potter pulled off a gender reveal in Pacers loss to Cavaliers

CLEVELAND – Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle had never been a part of a gender reveal quite like the one he was involved in on Sunday. One of his players, center Micah Potter, asked Carlisle if it would be okay to announce the gender of he and his wife Elle's due-in-September child during Pacers vs Cavaliers on Sunday. Carlisle responded with an of course.

"It's taken on a life. Literally," Carlisle said of the event.

Carlisle, a father himself, knows how significant having a firstborn is during one's life. It meant something to him to be a part of Potter's reveal, and Carlisle thought doing the announcement during an NBA game was creative. Carlisle backed up his emotions with actions less than an hour before the game with a surprising coaching decision that changed Potter's entire night. But before the surprise, Potter had a busy few days.

The five-year pro has been with the Pacers since late December and is playing on his first standard contract. His earliest contract came with the Detroit Pistons and was an emergency 10-day deal given to the Pistons for COVID-19 reasons. Then, he was with the Utah Jazz, a Western Conference team, for three seasons on two-way contracts.

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That isn't filler information – it's necessary context for Sunday's scene. A short time in Detroit, then three years in the Western Conference, didn't provide Potter many chances to play in Cleveland. He's from Mentor, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb about a half-hour drive away. During the 2024-25 campaign, he got to play in Cleveland for the first time while with the Jazz. But that was his only time ever playing in Rocket Arena as a pro before the Pacers visited two days ago.

Potter has countless family members and friends in the area. So after he and his wife found out earlier this year that they are expecting a child, they planned ahead to make the trip to Cleveland special.

And by they, I mean Elle. "My wife," Potter said when I asked him who came up with the in-game gender reveal idea. He then explained how the plan came to be and what his trip to Ohio was like.

"So, we knew that Easter Sunday [the Pacers] were playing in Cleveland. Obviously, I'm from Cleveland," he began. "We had our ultrasound that told us [the gender]. We did the blood testing, the genetic testing. And then by the time we got our results, we knew it would be just a time for Easter."

Early in the week, before the Pacers left for their road trip, Micah and Elle did their own private gender reveal. They both knew ahead of Sunday's game. Elle's parents drove to Cleveland from Milwaukee, so Saturday the Potters announced the gender to each of their parents during a family Easter celebration in Mentor.

Sunday, it was time for everyone else in Potter's life to find out. Potter got permission from Carlisle and was looking forward to executing the gender reveal before, and during, the game. The original plan was simple – Potter would run out on the court for warmups wearing either blue or pink shoes, and the color would be the gender announcement.

The timing worked out well. Potter is religious, so that the trip became part home visit, part Easter with family, and part gender reveal was meaningful. Had it not been Easter, the Potters still would have done an announcement during Pacers-Cavs. But it was a nice addition to the weekend – Potter got to go to church in his hometown in the morning prior to the game.

Then, a team meeting before heading to the arena with both pairs of shoes. "Gotta see if my orthotics fit in them," Potter joked. From my perspective, the blue shoes looked a little smaller. "I'm not worried. I tried them both out. We'll be good to go."

Carlisle's surprise changed the planning. Less than one hour before the game, Carlisle switched the starting lineup. Jay Huff to the bench, Potter into the starting five. The Mentor native was making his 14th-ever NBA start and fourth for the Pacers in his hometown. His gender reveal now would involve his name being mentioned as a starter in the building. "I decided tonight to make the switch," Carlisle said. "Because this is a big deal. It's really a momentous thing, having your first child. This is a little bit unusual way to announce it, but if we can help light up one of our guys and make it even more special, why not do it."

It was a nice gesture from Carlisle. It also changed Potter's thinking. Instead of jogging out to play with blue or pink shoes on, the center waited until the opening tip to make the reveal with his style. When he trotted on to the hardwood, right by his wife, his shoes were white with a purple trim.

A twist! And no spoilers for Potter, who could now wait until the opening tip to pull off the surprise.

After warmups was the National Anthem, during which Potter huddled up with Jalen Slawson and Obi Toppin. Then, player introduction. The Pacers, as the road team, had their starting lineup announced first. Potter was the only player to hear some cheers from the Cleveland crowd, and he was still wearing his white and purple shoes.

Then, the arena went dark for the pyrotechnics that go off during the announcement of the Cavaliers starters. Perfect timing for Potter to change his shoes. Both the blue and pink pair were sitting by the Pacers bench – T.J. McConnell brought them both out moments earlier.

In the darkness of the arena, Potter changed his shoes. And on went the blue ones. It's going to be a boy.

A dead giveaway for me, personally, was Elle wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, and blue shoes. They both went all out for the reveal. Potter said he had roughly 40 friends and family members at the game watching.

McConnell ran over to hit Potter in the chest, lightly, and give him some love for the announcement. Toppin pretended to dust off the shoes. His teammates were clearly excited for the reveal – postgame, those emotions continued. "It's a blessing," Toppin said. "He's having a baby boy... super happy for them."

Potter walked out for the opening tip, then the Pacers got a stop on the first possession. Potter grabbed the rebound. On the Pacers first play, Potter caught the ball on the move heading toward the basket. He drew a foul, meaning he was heading to the foul line with a chance to score the first points of the game, making the moment more special. And he made both. During the free throws, the Cavaliers broadcast – the local broadcast for what Potter said was 400-500 people watching for the reveal – a graphic popped up. "It's a... Boy!" it said.

Please ignore my spelling

"He didn't need to do that. I mean, it was cool that he did," Potter said of Carlisle inserting him into the starting lineup. When the team made the change, multiple Pacers players encouraged Potter to wait until after starting lineup introductions to put the shoes on. "It threw [the plan] off a little bit."

Postgame, Potter was wearing a white t-shirt that said "Dad" in cursive lettering. When he walked to the bench for the first time during the game, McConnell did the famous rock the baby celebration. Potter's teammates and coaches were encouraging and involved, making the event more special.

Potter admitted that while he tried not to think about the moment to start the game, it was hard. There was more at stake with the shoes and viewers tuned in to see just him. But that first play helped. "Coach drew up that play for me to potentially get a bucket, and when I hit those two free throws, everything kind of settled in," Potter said.

He met with family and friends postgame, capping off an unforgettable outing. Elle did much of the planning, and she approved of how everything went down in the end despite the pregame changes.

"She's happy," Micah said. "She was excited. She likes to plan things and make things special. She's great at it." She certainly made this night unforgettable for the Potter's and those that know them best.

Oh yeah, the game!

After that first play, there was still over 47 minutes of action to go. To the Pacers credit, they battled and played well for much of the night despite having little to play for and several key talents out.

Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith were all out. None of the projected starters for next season were available. And yet, the Pacers were winning to start the fourth quarter. Their offense was humming thanks to a size advantage that largely existed thanks to the Cavs missing so many frontcourt players.

"Just getting into the paint. Obviously, the quick seals and different mismatches. They were switching a lot. Finding the mismatch in the paint was kind of our goal," Toppin said of the Pacers offensive successes using their size.

In the fourth quarter, everything changed. The Cavs went to a zone defense that slowed the Pacers, and their stars – James Harden and Donovan Mitchell – got going. The Pacers were up 96-95 before an 11-0 run for Cleveland.

That was a killer stretch, then another 8-0 Cavaliers run put the game away with about three minutes to go. Despite a strong shooting night with few turnovers, a few poor stretches doomed the Pacers late.

"We missed a few good looks... Our inability to get stops during that period really hurt us," Carlisle said of the fourth quarter.

"All in all, I'm just real proud of the group," Carlisle added. "To compete the way we did for three full quarters and a good chunk of the fourth, to have a lead and to carry a lead for a long time with the group that was available, was a great effort by them."

Potter was productive on his big day with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Slawson continues to impress, finishing with 19 points and six rebounds (and several critical goaltends on right-idea, wrong-execution plays). Toppin and Kobe Brown had quality outings as well.

The final score was 117-108. It was loss number 60 of the year for the Pacers, who are 18-60 with four games to go. With two more losses, they will secure the top possible lottery odds.

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