Michael Jordan has been a huge topic of conversation as of late thanks to the ESPN documentary "The Last Dance." Every Sunday, two new episodes have aired and they have all been quite good. New information continues to be divulged and unfortunately, last night, the final two episodes made it to air. Now, our Sundays will be reduced to boredom, once again.
During Episode 9, one of the biggest stories was Reggie Miller and how the Indiana Pacers brought the Bulls to seven games in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. In the end, the Bulls came out on top, and Miller had to relive it all. As teammate Jalen Rose described during a podcast with director Jason Hehir, Miller originally didn't want to be a part of "The Last Dance" and needed to be convinced to do it. Eventually, he gave in knowing it would be a big moment.
“Interviewing Reggie, as somebody who played with him, I was trying to initially get him to interview for this doc. He didn’t want to do it. It was too much pain,” Rose said.
If you're a Pacers fan, last night wasn't easy but it was even harder for Jazz fans who had to watch MJ beat them in the Finals two years in a row.
Reggie Miller Thought He Would Force Michael Jordan Into Retirement
Reggie Miller was convinced he could spell the end for the infamous Chicago Bulls.
Reggie Miller was always one of the more formidable foes in NBA history thanks to his brand of trash talk and three-point shooting. Unfortunately, he was never able to get over the hump and win an NBA championship, even though he made it to the Finals back in the year 2000. In 1998, Miller went up against Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals, which as we all know by now, Jordan won en-route to his sixth championship.
In “The Last Dance,” Miller spoke about going up against MJ and what he was hoping to accomplish at the time. As he explains, Miller had the mentality that he was going to force Jordan into retirement.
Tommy Gilligan/Getty Images
“We all looked at the Bulls as the standard model of success,” Miller said, Brad Botkin of CBS Sports. “They were considered the best at that time. But we felt, and I feel to this day, we were the better team. The whole thing is, there was whispers that this was going to be Mike’s last year. So I think a perfect storm was brewing. In my mind, I was thinking … ‘this is it. You’re going to retire Michael Jordan.’”
Jordan eventually did retire after that season although it had absolutely nothing to do with Miller and the Pacers. Jordan always seemed to have Miller’s number and that never changed up until the very end.
Reggie Miller Is Still Livid With Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller had a pretty bitter rivalry during the 90s.
Michael Jordan is known as not just the best basketball player of all time but one of the greatest trash talkers as well. Jordan could be pretty ruthless with what he told his opponents and more often than not, this led to some longlasting hatred. One of his biggest rivals back in the 1990s was none other than Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers. If it wasn’t for MJ, Miller probably would have won an NBA title although it simply never came to fruition.
In light of “The Last Dance,” Dan Patrick had Miller on his show today where they talked about a whole plethora of topics, including Jordan. At one point, Patrick asked Miller what he would do if he saw Jordan at dinner. As Miller explains, there would simply be too much resentment there for the meeting to be civil.
Per Dan Patrick:
Patrick: What would you say if you sat down with him at dinner?
Miller: (pause)…..I might punch him
Patrick: Are you being serious?
Miller: (pause)….man, there was a lot of stuff being thrown back and forth…
With these comments in mind, it’s clear that Jordan must have said something foul to Miller out on the court. Not to mention, consistently losing to the same person over and over again can certainly weigh on one’s spirit.
Hopefully, Miller and Jordan can patch things up one day.
Reggie Miller Trolls Knicks, Spike Lee Amid Feud
Reggie Miller is taking great joy in the fact that the New York Knicks are beefing with Spike Lee.
The Leon Rose era in New York started off on a high note on Monday night, as the Knicks picked up a hard fought victory over the Houston Rockets at Madison Square Garden. You wouldn't know it though, because the only chatter involving the Knicks today is centered around their bubbling beef with longtime fan Spike Lee.
And as the Knicks' feud with Spike Lee gets uglier by the minute, Reggie Miller is somewhere grinning from ear to ear.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
In response to an article about Spike's beef with his beloved franchise, the Indiana Pacers legend tweeted, "OOOOHHHHH have the MIGHTY have fallen.. This wouldn’t happen at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, maybe finally time to switch your allegiance Spike..."
Miller's tweet came just moments after the Knicks issued a statement describing Lee's claims as "laughable" and accusing him of creating "a false controversy to perpetuate drama."
During an appearance on ESPN's First Take on Tuesday morning, Spike explained how he feels that Knicks owner James Dolan is "harassing" him for no reason, and stated that he won't be attending any more games this season. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he stays away from MSG for the foreseeable future.
Check out the incident in question, as well as the recent back-and-forth, in the tweets embedded below.
