Some fans believe pro basketball’s three-point shot was invented for Reggie Miller. Not quite, although no player was ever better from long-range.
As an All-American at UCLA, Miller was a great shooter, but some questioned how well he would adapt to the NBA’s more physical game. Drafted 11th by the Indiana Pacers, even though many fans wanted them to take local college hero Steve Alford, Miller instead found a home in Indianapolis for 19 seasons.
He was most at home firing away from the outside. As a rookie, Miller broke Larry Bird’s record for most three-pointers by a first-year player. And he never looked back.
“I think he has the capability of becoming a very good NBA player and I think he’s had a good season,” Pacers coach Jack Ramsay said after the 1987–88 season. “Overall he’s made good progress at both ends of the court.”1
That progress never stopped. By his third season, Miller was among the NBA’s top sharpshooters, averaging a career-high 24.6 points a game. He remained there for a decade, with his skills at driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line making him one of the most well-rounded scorers of his day.
Although he never won an NBA title, Miller played in some of the most memorable games ever. His battles with the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York became legendary.
In the 1994 playoffs, Reggie had a running conversation with movie director Spike Lee sitting courtside in his Knicks jersey, even while Miller was scoring 25 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter. Indiana went on to win the game, 93–86.
“Spike and I were just having some fun,” Miller said with a laugh. “I wasn’t having a very good game and he was kind of ribbing me. After I hit that first 3, I kind of looked at him and started talking to him and after that, it was history.”2
Not quite. The next year Miller was at it again. In an amazing 8.9 seconds at the end of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Reggie scored eight points on two three-pointers, a steal, a rebound, and two free throws in a 107–105 win.
“I’ve had some of my better moments against this team in this building,” Miller said after his final game in the Garden, when he received a huge ovation. “A lot of things have been said both ways—me to them and them to me. I really felt the respect and the love from the New Yorkers.”3
