It’s such a shame. Now that I’m old enough to appreciate Miller
Time, it’s gone. No more dagger-in-the-heart three-pointers,
complete with wild leg-kicking.
No more,
”
Who does this skinny guy think he is trying to ruin our
playoffs?
”
moments.
It’s such a shame. Now that I’m old enough to appreciate Miller Time, it’s gone. No more dagger-in-the-heart three-pointers, complete with wild leg-kicking.
No more, “Who does this skinny guy think he is trying to ruin our playoffs?” moments.
No more youthful play from a man who is old enough to be LeBron James’ dad.
I’m really going to miss Reggie Miller. But I haven’t always felt this way.
Growing up, in my mind there was no greater sports villain than Reggie Miller – well, not including John Starks. Miller, that wiry California native and Baby New Year look-alike with the painfully recognizable shot was always pestering my beloved Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. He was that irritating guy who non-Pacers fans hated because he wasn’t on their team. Miller was scrappy, kinda dirty and most of all, clutch.
The Bulls – when they were “The Dynasty” – always had the upper hand on Indy. But Miller always had a way of keeping the Pacers close. There was the ugly 1998 Eastern Conference finals series that went seven games. Miller practically pushed Jordan to the floor while cutting open for his game-winning buzzer-beater three in Game 4 of that series. No foul called, of course. And Miller enraged everyone by not letting the haters get under his skin.
“I loved it,” Miller recently said about being perceived as the enemy. “Not everyone can wear the white hat.”
Yet at some point over the last seven years, I realized Miller’s not a bad guy. He’s a gamer and he shows it. He’s got heart and a true love for the game of basketball. I like that. And it’s something we all know the NBA has lacked in recent years.
Another thing that made me a fan of No. 31 is that in his twilight years, Miller possessed a valuable skill that even Jordan didn’t: The ability to change his game to fit his older self and, most recently, to adapt to no longer being the best player with the franchise. While we all watched MJ make one comeback too many and sadly play less and less like his old magical self, Miller aged gracefully and accepted the inevitable changes the latter years of his career brought.
Yes, he managed to stay healthy for the most part, and that certainly helped the longevity of his career. But amazingly, Miller still maintained strong stats to the end, which takes a little more than the blessing of good health. This season, he averaged 14.8 points and 31.9 minutes per game, not terribly far from his career averages of 18.2 points and 34.3 minutes per game.
He did this, all the while showing strong character throughout his career. Maybe he got a little too hot in some game situations. But he was always good to the Indianapolis fans and the media and had about as much controversy surrounding him as an episode of “Blue’s Clues.”
I guess I didn’t fully realize how much we should all appreciate Miller until I watched the clip of him giving a tearful farewell speech after his last home game last month. Though I was at the gym sweating it out on the treadmill – clearly in no real emotional setting whatsoever – I had to blink back some tears of my own. I really felt for the guy. You’d think after grinding it out for 18 years, day after day, season after season – especially one as tumultuous as this one – Miller would be pretty much ready to let it go. But here he was, struggling through a tearful good-bye, even with the playoffs in front of him.
Essentially, saying good-bye to Reggie means saying good-bye to the golden era of the NBA. At 39, he’s the last of the blue-blood superstars from the good old ’90’s. So I hope you were paying attention. In the NBA today, no player (except for maybe LeBron) is indispensable. Franchises don’t hang on to superstars like they used to. The Shaquille O’Neal and Tracy McGrady trades solidified that for us all. Miller played his entire career for the Pacers. We won’t see that again.
