INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana Pacers photographer Matt Dial, whose friends rallied around him as he battled Stage 4 colon cancer to give him one last night inside his beloved Gainbridge Fieldhouse, wanted to live long enough to see his team win its first NBA title.
Dial died early Saturday morning at Life Journey Hospice, just one day short of the Pacers’ Game 7 at Oklahoma City Sunday night. He is survived by his wife, Shelley, and two sons Noah and Aaron.
“At 2:54 am, Matty passed on from this life. I was humbled by the bravery of Aaron, who was there until the end. Pat and Gary (Dial’s parents) were champions and provided so much support through all of their own pain,” Shelley posted to Dial’s Caring Bridge page. “I appreciate them so much. The end was so hard for us.”
Shelley called Dial the best husband, father, son, partner and friend. “He is missed by all who knew him,” she wrote, “especially me.”
It was February 2023 when doctors finally discovered the reason Dial had been losing so much weight without trying, why he wasn’t hungry. He had a cecal mass that had spread to his abdominal lymph nodes and his liver.
When Dial was first diagnosed, he started planning trips with his family to make memories. Not fancy trips. Better than that. Trips to Tennessee to see the mountains and one to Branson, Missouri, known as “the live entertainment capital of the world,” because of all those shows and theaters.
But, in the past year, the pain from the cancer and everything that treatments had done to his body became, at times, unbearable.
In late May, Dial’s friends and an army of people came together to give Dial a chance to make one last, beautiful Pacers memory with his family at Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Dial felt well enough to make the trip from his Zionsville home to Gainbridge for that historic, electric game that sent Indiana to its first NBA Finals in 25 years.
“He’s not able to travel as much, and that’s why this game was so important,” Dial’s son Noah, 25, told IndyStar earlier this month. “Because I never thought I’d get that chance to go with him again.”
Those who knew Dial called him a kind, wickedly smart, self-proclaimed technology nerd, lover of the Pacers and even moreso lover of his family and friends. They were all fiercely hoping that Dial lived long enough to see his Pacers win an NBA title.
“I was going to cry anyway (if they won it), but I would cry even more because, you know, he’s been waiting for this. And he might not see another run,” said Noah. “When we get through this and we win the championship, it’s going be a memory I’ll always cherish.”
There will be no funeral for Dial, at his request, Shelley wrote. Just a party to celebrate him.
“Thank you to all our friends and family who have stepped up so much in the last difficult weeks,” Shelley wrote. “I love you.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.