Bye, Bye, Reggie: It’ll Never be Miller Time Again

By Nicholas Stix The Detroit Pistons sent Indiana Pacers great Reggie Miller into retirement tonight. In spite of the Pacers playing at home, where hopeful fans held up signs saying “Miller Time,” and other tried-and-true exhortations, and with the Pacers playing with frenzied emotion and going shot-for-shot (particularly Jermaine O’Neal) with the Pistons late in the fourth quarter, Detroit beat Indiana, 88-79. That gave Detroit the Eastern Conference semifinal series, four games to two. Detroit will go on to play the Shaquille O’Neal-led Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. In a moment that symbolized a generational changing of the guard, with a chance at tying the game late in the fourth quarter, Miller took a dramatic three-point shot. For years, opponents and fans alike had seen him take and make such postseason three-pointers with a success rate unmatched in NBA history. Only this time, Detroit center Ben Wallace came flying at Miller from 20 feet away, and blocked the shot. With 15.7 seconds left, and the Pistons ahead 87-79, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle removed Miller from the game, so that he could enjoy a well-earned standing ovation from Pacers fans. But Detroit coach Larry Brown, a former coach of Miller’s (and of just about everyone else in the NBA, during the wandering Jew’s long, peripatetic career), outdid Carlisle. Brown called a 20-second timeout, for the sole purpose of letting the crowd and his own players properly salute one of the NBA’s brightest lights. From one shooting guard to another: Young Pistons star Rip Hamilton hugged Miller (as did just about everyone else in the arena, or so it seemed), and thanked him for all he’d done for the game. Miller told him, “You do it for as long as you can.” ABC announcer Al Michaels observed, “Hamilton will remember those words forever.” At game’s end, Miller spoke with courtside reporter Michelle Tafoya. “Unfortunately, the champs rose to the occasion.” Tafoya asked Miller, “What will you say to your teammates?” “Thank you….” “I could have retired three or four years ago, but they let me play with them….” “I’m going to sit back and reflect….” With 25,279 career points, Miller, one of the greatest outside shooters ever, is 12th on the league’s all-time scoring list, and with 2,560 three-pointers, ranks first all-time in that category. And in his last season, he had his greatest percentage ever shooting free throws, .933, and led the league in that category (his career free-throw percentage was .888). Miller had passed on his leadership role with the Pacers to young star Jermaine O’Neal a few years ago, but had to return to that role this past season, when O’Neal and teammates Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson assaulted fans during a November 19 game against the Pistons. Artest was suspended for the rest of the season, and O’Neal and Jackson were suspended for lengthy periods. New York Knick fans will remember Miller for his three-point playoff buzzer-beaters against the Knicks, and for the 1993 playoff game in which he provoked, via trash talk, Knicks shooting guard John Starks into head-butting him, which got Starks ejected. The 18-year veteran will always be known for his combination of cockiness, intelligence, and clutch play. And now, given the class he showed in leaving the stage, he will remembered too for his humility.