Comments on: Saying Goodbye to Reggie Miller

By: mike

mike — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:29:37 +0000

one of you made a comment about how we only remember reggie’s makes and that you yourself can remember quite a few misses, and sometimes in big time games in the clutch moments. but that typifies reggie’s career. make or miss, he was taking the last shot, he was going to have the ball at the end of the game. true sports fans realize what reggie was able to do with a team that few knew even existed when he entered the league. he was bood on draft day, his sister was an all-american. he had nothing going for him. his house was burned down, and threats were made for his life, and yet he stayed in indiana for his whole career. a career that was highlighted by clutch shots and late game heroics. we always talk about his great shooting, but dont forget his toughness. as a kid i looked up to reggie and idolized him, even now after he has retired i will not forget what he did for the game of basketball. 2 threes, 2 free throws, a steal, and a rebound, in 8.6 seconds to come back from being down by 6, who could pull that off other than reggie, the kid who was born with leg problems and the doctors said that he would be lucky to walk, and to forget about sports. reggie gave his life to basketball and to indiana, and to do anything other than to praise him for it is just stupid, reggie miller is my hero hands down

By: Maureen57

Maureen57 — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 16:05:59 +0000

Reggie was a class act. He willed the Pacers into the 2005 playoffs after that mess of a season.
Look at the Pacers this year, with Reggie gone.
No, don’t. It’s too ugly.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Mon, 23 May 2005 11:46:21 +0000

In all the talk of where Reggie fits on the ‘all time greats list’, no one mentioned the lists he didn’t make – the police blotter lists. No arrests for drugs, DUI, domestic battery, etc. that is so common in professional sports today. He’s a good person and someone whom my kids can look up to. And that’s what this Pacers fan will miss most.

By: raj

raj — Sat, 21 May 2005 17:18:16 +0000

I’ve never heard of this fellow, but I don’t follow prof basketball. Did he die? Some of the things here seem to suggest that they are eulogies.

By: Expertise

Expertise — Fri, 20 May 2005 21:51:50 +0000

Charles, Tim Duncan definitely comes to mind as one. Charles Oakley and Michael Finley are probably two others.

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 20 May 2005 21:40:26 +0000

I think Reggie is one of the last to represent what I deem old school NBA; those who played for the passion rather than the $ signs. With David Robinson gone and now Miller, I cannot bring to mind another player who represents that Isaiah Thomas/Magic Johnson/Bird/Jordan/Stockton/Ewing era of the game.

By: Adam Packer

Adam Packer — Fri, 20 May 2005 21:23:58 +0000

J.P., you mistake my not wanting to extrapolate shortened careers as a damnation of all those players with short careers. Not true, but I am not going to stop the clock on Reggie’s career at 13 years just because that’s when your favorite player got a screwy back.
You also treat longevity and greatness as mutually exclusive. I disagree and say instead that productive longevity is an element of greatness. The longer a player is a force in the league, the more that fans get to enjoy him. NBA basketball is about entertainment. An 18 year career, 14 of which ended in playoff runs, gives a player lots of opportunities for entertainment. Reggie’s playoff games were almost 2 additional seasons of camera time. Reggie’s greatness at 13 years (he already had the 3 point record) was only enhanced each year he played, because he was still important and entertaining.
Glad you mentioned Mitch Richmond, because Mitch was awesome during his prime, probably better than Miller in his prime. But Mitch played for terrible teams. Some of greatness is raw numbers, and there, Mitch & Reggie are close. But a lot of greatness is also timing and TV, and Reggie had 131 playoff games, televised coast to coast, where he talked trash to Spike and kicked out his leg enough to be seared into the minds of the public. That’s the combination of emotional and empirical factors that highlight why Reggie is so loved (and hated) and Mitch Richmond will be remembered as a “good player.”
I recall from your Mike Davis posts, J.P., that you are a basketball purist. You want rebounds and defense and steals and well-timed passes. Reggie was ok at that stuff. But he was a must-watch at showtime, and that is what made him a great NBA player.

By: Expertise

Expertise — Fri, 20 May 2005 21:20:24 +0000

Very good tribute. I wrote one of my own on my blog.
One thing that concerns me about Miller leaving is that there isn’t enough guys in the league that have the fundamentals that he had as well as the ability to shoot out of the gym. It’s something that’s definitely lacking in today’s NBA.

By: Ed Brayton

Ed Brayton — Fri, 20 May 2005 20:22:55 +0000

In terms of great players overall, I would not put Reggie into the top tier or probably even into the second tier. In my opinion, the top tier of all time players is a small group – Magic, Bird, Jordan (I think everyone would agree on those three), Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain. Maybe Jerry West and Kareem. The second tier would be guys like Isaiah Thomas, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Julius Erving, etc. I’d probably put Reggie somewhere in the third tier – a hall of famer, but never the best at his position at any time in his career. But as I said, over the course of his career he became one of my favorite players. As Adam said, he was never a first team all-NBA player, but he was an all-star caliber player for 15 years and certainly one of the top 2 or 3 shooters in the league for most of his career.

By: J. P.

J. P. — Fri, 20 May 2005 20:10:18 +0000

So, then, because of Packer’s extrapolation clause, we are left to assume that Reggie’s career may be in the same league as Bird’s, whose career was shortened by injuries, but still managed 3 MVPs and 3 Championships. Right.
Shooting percentage is not as empirical as you may think. Banging around down low, and playing all out defense will tire you down, adversely affecting your jumper(and your free throws). Reggie never dealt with these factors on the same level as the other players you mentioned, which doubtlessly had something to do with his longevity.
I’d trade greatness for longevity anytime.
Reggie career is very similar, and perhaps inferior to (Packer’s beloved) Mitch Richmond, though no one mentions him as a “legit” pick and he retired without the fanfare. Reggie was fortunate to have played his entire career in a place where people love basketball and, in the later years, his team was in the spotlight as a contender.