Reggie Miller Fires Back at Knicks Fans
A longtime metropolitan nemesis implored New York Knicks fans to recognize that "Miller Time" has come and gone.
Indiana Pacers legend and NBA on TNT analyst Reggie Miller couldn't help but take one last shot at the metropolitan faithful while it's down, questioning why he continues to be the target of metropolitan jeers during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show."
"I didn’t play in the series, New Yorkers,” Miller told Patrick. “Why are you all dragging me? I didn’t play in the series, how am I a part of all of this?"
Miller currently has the upper hand in his ever-souring relationship with Knicks fans after his Indianapolis successors took the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a 130-109 victory in Sunday's Game 7 finale at Madison Square Garden. The Hall of Famer's career is perhaps best known for his frequent postseason clashes with the Knicks, as the two sides evenly spit six meetings between 1993 and 2000.
While the Knicks were left shorthanded by injury, those gathered in the MSG stands were out in full force: one of the last electrifying moments of the 2023-24 season from a Knicks perspective was New Yorkers serenading Miller, calling the game for TNT, with chants of "F*** you, Reggie" during the final stages of a Game 2 victory over the Pacers at MSG. A giddy Josh Hart even visited the broadcast table to inform Miller of the happening as the Knicks put the finishing touches on a 130-121 win that gave them a 2-0 series lead.
Miller facetiously thanked Hart for his help before questioning why Knicks fans were so focused on his presence when they were about to earn a major victory.
" I came to do Game 2 because that was asked of me," Miller said. "My bosses said, ‘We want you doing this game.’ We all have bosses, right Theodore? I can’t say no. I called the game down the middle. How am I dragged in to like I’m out there playing Game 7?”
"I expected that, too. I understand that. Just like in The Godfather, just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in," Miller continued, referencing Al Pacinos' famous line from the third film of the crime film series. "My boys from Indiana, thank you. My young boys handled their business in Game 7, and we moved on. But I wasn’t playing in the series, guys. I’m 58 years old. I had nothing to do with the series.”
For all his talk about avoiding direct participation in the most recent Knicks-Pacers series, Miller certainly seemed to enjoy having the last laugh, as he labeled Hart's reminder the de facto turning point of the series in an Instagram post created after Game 7. As the victors made their postgame comments, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton also wore a hoodie depicting Miller making a choking gesture toward Knicks superfan Spike Lee during the second showdown in 1994.
The Pacers got by the Knicks will a Miller-esque showing that secured their first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2014: Indiana shot an NBA postseason record 67.1 percent from the field en route to the one-sided victory, breaking a 34-year-old record held by the 1989-90 Boston Celtics (who also did so against the Knicks). Haliburton scord a team-best 26 points in the win, the first road victory for either team in the seven-game set.
The Knicks' Sunday demise, partly brought about by injuries to OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, was enough to muster the closest thing Miller could have when it comes to sympathy for Manhattan.
“The Knicks could’ve used our shooting,” Miller said. “The Knicks could’ve used us. Oh, man, that’s bad. Seriously, I feel for them.”
Miller's Pacers will look to get on the ECF board on Thursday night when they face the Celtics in Game 2 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks