Reggie Miller
Background: Miller is the Indiana Pacers’ all-time leading scorer and the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers. The 18-year NBA veteran retired last season and joined Turner Sports as a play-by-play and studio analyst. He will have his No. 31 jersey retired in Indiana during the March 30 game against Phoenix. Miller owns a movie production company called Boom Baby and its first movie, “Beautiful Ohio,” is nearly finished. He also is adjusting to being unbiased when calling Pacers games. “I’ve told everyone from the get-go: I apologize if I say ‘we’ when I’m calling Pacers games,” Miller said in a media teleconference. “I’m trying to wean myself from saying ‘we’ in conversations, because for 18 years that’s all I knew.”
What’s up: The Pacers had a championship-caliber team last season. But after a fight with fans in Detroit led to multiple suspensions, including the loss of Ron Artest for the season, the Pacers were knocked out of the playoffs in the second round. Miller said he is not looking back at what could have been and doesn’t believe his final season was ruined. “If we all want to solve what could’ve or should’ve been, we had our full complement of players when we should have beat the Pistons the year they won the championship (2004),” Miller said. “My career couldn’t have ended any better. What the Pacers did making it to the playoffs, we were fortunate to beat Boston and make it to six games with Detroit with a depleted Indiana team. I think you just want to leave everything on the floor.”
What’s next: Miller, after all those years as a pro, is adjusting to not playing. “The good thing about it is I can spend more time with family and friends,” he said. “Obviously, I miss the camaraderie with the guys, but my body is adjusting and I’m loving it. But (TNT analyst and former NBA player) Steve (Kerr) gave me a bit of advice before: ‘I’m telling you, September and October you’re going to be hating it because your body is going to be telling you that you need to be in camp.’ And he’s right, but I’m looking at the big picture of having the opportunity to work with Turner.”
Spears’ take: The future Hall of Famer needs some seasoning as a broadcaster, but eventually he will be a solid NBA analyst. What has helped is his three years of experience doing analysis for WNBA games with Lifetime. He wasn’t a media darling as a player, but he will get the players’ respect as a member of the media.
