Barack Obama Perfectly Trolled Ex-Pacer Reggie Miller About Bulls' Dominance in 90s

Former President Barack Obama was in the house for the NBA's All-Star Game in L.A. on Sunday, and, as one particularly hilarious moment involving Reggie Miller made clear, was in quite the fun-loving mood as he watched the contest courtside.
Speaking on the NBC broadcast, the former Pacers guard and Hall of Famer asked the ex-president to share his favorite moment from his time in Chicago in the 1990s, when Michael Jordan's Bulls were at the top of the sports world and dominating the NBA.
"I always enjoyed watching us beat Indiana," Obama quickly quipped in reply, earning a playful groan from Miller.
"Although, I will say," the former president continued, "that nobody terrified me more than Reggie Miller with a possible three-point shot at the end of a game. You did push off Michael on that one play, though."
Obama is referring to the final seconds of Game 6 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, when Miller got away with pushing Jordan to open up some space and hit a go-ahead three-pointer. Chicago would go on to win in Game 7. (In The Last Dance docuseries, Miller admitted to having "lightly shoved" Jordan.)
Watch that full moment below:
Reggie Miller: "Do you have a favorite moment during that time in Chicago during the '90s?"
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 15, 2026
Barack Obama: "I always enjoyed watching us beat Indiana." 🏀🔥🎙️ #NBA #NBC pic.twitter.com/rCzmUBNU90
In any event, it's all in good fun—it's obvious Obama was just messing around, and also obvious Miller was totally comfortable fielding those questions. But it's always fun to see the former president flex his ball knowledge, and even more fun to see him get under the skin of one of the game's greatest players.
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Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.