INDIANAPOLIS -- He has spent 18 years in the NBA, dueling
with Michael Jordan and trading courtside taunts with Spike Lee.
Reggie Miller, his shot as smooth as any to grace the league, is
down to his final games in this farewell season, bringing an entire
team with him.
"Personally, I took it upon myself that I was going to try and
will this team in any shape or form to make the playoffs," he
said.
Miller did that, all right, still a threat at 39. He helped the
Indiana Pacers clinch their eighth straight playoff berth last week
and made some question whether retirement was the wisest career
move. Coach Rick Carlisle would love for Miller to stay, but he's
willing to face facts.
"It's not going to happen and I respect that completely," he
said. "You've got to respect that because Reggie has earned the
right to leave the game on his terms, and there aren't many guys
who have been able to do that after 18 years."
The Pacers were a favorite for the NBA title before this season.
Then they dropped eight of 11 games following a Nov. 19 brawl in
Detroit for which three starters were suspended a total of 128
games. Now they are back in contention.
Miller is the main reason, filling the void left by injuries and
the suspensions of All-Stars Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal and
starter Stephen Jackson. He assumed the role of team leader in
early March, when O'Neal injured his right shoulder. It was a role
he knew well but had abdicated when O'Neal signed a $126 million
contract in 2003.
In the last six weeks, Miller has averaged 20 points,
occasionally producing the late scoring bursts that have defined
his career -- the latest coming last week when he scored seven
points in 22 seconds to help push the Pacers to another victory.
The Pacers went 14-8 after O'Neal was injured, largely because
Miller is playing like a man half his age.
"Reggie is back to the Reggie of 10 years ago," Pacers chief
executive officer Donnie Walsh said. "He's making all the shots.
Every time he does something, I look back and say and think, 'Well,
he's been doing it a long time, so why am I surprised?"
It wasn't always this way for Miller.
Indiana drafted him out of UCLA in 1987 with the 11th pick, and
Pacers fans booed. They wanted hometown favorite Steve Alford, who
had just led Bob Knight's Hoosiers to the NCAA championship.
Miller paid no heed, quickly establishing himself as the team's
first real NBA star. The Pacers, once a laughingstock that reached
the playoffs twice in their first 11 NBA seasons, became a
perennial contender.
Miller won over fans with his play and his playfulness. His
game-saving 3-pointers became his signature. He was one of the
league's best foul shooters, ranking seventh for his career at
nearly 90 percent. He also had his own way of drawing fouls --
kicking out his leg, a tactic that New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank
last week acknowledged as Miller's move.
He jumped on scorer's tables to celebrate wins, matched Jordan
shot for shot and Lee barb for barb as the movie director sat in
his sideline seat at Madison Square Garden. Miller wore Superman
shirts before playoff games and sunglasses to postgame interviews.
"I think he's one of the greatest shooters to ever play the
game," Philadelphia's Allen Iverson said. "He's one of the guys
who made me play the game, and he's a guy that a lot of kids should
model themselves after on and off the court. I just hope he leaves
me with that jump shot."
Miller will leave the game with a league record of more than
2,500 3-pointers. Nobody else is even close, and his teammates have
a little more than 1,700 3-pointers combined.
He has scored more than 25,000 career points, more than all but
11 players in league history, and is the first Pacers player to
record 1,500 steals. He and John Stockton are the only players to
log more than 47,000 minutes with one team.
"To see a guy play his whole career with one team, that's
really unusual in this day and age," Indianapolis Colts coach Tony
Dungy said. "The most amazing thing is that the last four or five
weeks, he's been cranking it up after taking a secondary role
voluntarily. He's scoring again. It's just amazing."
Pacers players call him the consummate teammate and yearn to
give him an NBA title.
"If someone says that sending Reggie off on a good note is not
on their mind, it is," Jackson said. "It's on my mind."
With or without a championship ring, Miller couldn't have
envisioned a better ending for No. 31.
"I'm going to be walking away with a smile on my face," he
said. "Because no matter what happens in the playoffs, from here
on out, this franchise, this organization and myself will be
champions."