After 18 distinguished season in the NBA Reggie Miller has decided to call it quits. I will always remember May 7th, 1995, we were in the midst of a championship season in Little League but the game meant nothing to me. May 7th was Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs between the Knicks and the Pacers. My dad – along with every other father – was on the sidelines busy listening to the game on the radio. Every 15 seconds, whether I was on the field or not, I was yelling to my dad for an update on the score. By the ninth inning the game was, for all intents and purposes over. The Knicks had a 105-99 lead with 18.7 seconds left and began thinking of what post-game party they were going to. Only Reggie Miller, the king of clutch, the king of bravado didn’t believe it was over. In the most amazing collapse (pre-2004 Yankees, haha Yankee fans), Miller hit a three, stole the ball from Greg Anthony and hit another 3 pointer, ALL IN 3.1 SECONDS. Starks, the least clutch player in the history of the NBA (see 1994 vs. Rockets, and please don’t remind me about "the dunk") missed both free throws and Patrick Ewing missed a 10 footer. Miller grabbed the rebound and was fouled, hit both free throws and started yelling "Choke artists, choke artists" to a deathly quiet crowd.
Last Friday the game of basketball changed for ever for me. Reggie Miller, my favorite player, my idol announced he was retiring at the end of the season. I was seconds from crying like a baby. Tears are welling in my eyes as I write this. If VH1 ever did a "I Love the Ankur Show" at least 10 moments in the top 50 would involve Reggie Miller. Reggie Miller became my No. 1 sports hero, replacing Lawrence Taylor, Phil Simms, Keith Hernandez and Howard Johnson on June 1st, 1994 when he dropped 25 points in the fourth quarter on the Knicks
He’ll leave the NBA as the league’s most prolific three-point shooter, with an Olympic gold medal and World Championship gold, with five All Star appearances, 131 playoff games, and a substantially higher scoring average in the playoffs than in the regular season, NBA records for most 3-pointers made (2,505) and attempted (6,321) and is the leading scorer in Pacers history with 24,685 points. He will leave the game as one of the best pressure players ever in the NBA. Or, as Pacers’ president Donnie Walsh likes to say, "The most unappreciated star ever."
The Reggie Miller everyone knows and hates is the Reggie Miller that showed the choke sign to the stunned Garden crowd, the Reggie Miller that was willing to talk bigger than his game, the Miller that frustrated John Starks so much that he tried to strangle him, the Reggie Miller that would jaw with Spike Lee through out a Knick game. They all know Reggie Miller the flopper, Reggie the villain. The Reggie Miller I know is the one who no matter the situation wanted the ball in his hands at the end of the game, the Reggie Miller who signed autographs for anyone who asked, the Reggie Miller who even though he could score 20 points a game – like he did earlier this season – took a back seat to Jermaine O’Neal, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson. The Reggie Miller I know is the one who was built like Gollum from Lord of the Rings and wasn’t supposed to be able to walk because of a hip deformity. The Reggie Miller that I know is the one who got me beaten up because after a game I would talk as much as Miller had and living in New York that’s not a good thing. The Reggie Miller who made being a Pacer fan in enemy territory extremely worth.
Reggie made it interesting and fun. He always understood it was sports and entertainment. He understood that every form of entertainment needs a villain.
"I love being the villain," he said, "You’ve got to remember the NBA is the entertainment business, like Billy Joel or Michael Jackson. When we take the floor, we have to perform, entertain people. And I love being booed. It really gets me going. The bad guys are supposed to wear black. That’s OK. I’ll be the bad guy." Miller really wanted to be the bad guy.
Reggie Miller is the best pure shooter basketball has ever seen. Better than Larry Bird. And Miller is clutch. One shot to win the game? Give me Reggie over Michael Jordan or Bird.
As a lifelong Pacers fan, I can’t imagine what life would be like had Donnie Walsh not bypassed drafting home state favorite Steve Alford, and plucked Reggie Miller out of UCLA to a chorus of boos. Reggie Miller’s reign in Indiana actually has seen three separate Pacers eras. The first one with Chuck Person, Vern Flemming and Detlef Schrempf who were in those epic battles with Larry Bird’s Celtics. The second one was the NBA Finals edition with Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose and Rik Smits. And, finally, their current era with Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest. And next season when a new era begins and I won’t be seeing Reggie running through screens it really is going to turn my whole world upside down. Not good times, bad times.
I will always remember the many swishes from beyond the three point arc, the trash talking and the clutch plays. I will remember how he didn’t get the respect he deserved because he was always number 2 to Michael Jordan, I will remember how he played all 18 seasons for the Indiana Pacers and he didn’t, even though he could have, latch onto another team just for the ring because if he was going to get a ring it would be for the Indiana Pacers and the Pacer fans. But most of all I’m going to remember all the good times I had because of him and the way he acted on and off the court. Thank you Reggie.