Sports
Goodbye Reggie Miller
As I write this, the Pistons/Pacers playoff series winds down with the claustrophobic inevitability of a late-‘70’s Aerosmith record. This was supposed to be the series of the year, the war of the year, but it wasn’t, for reasons that are obvious. Sure, it was still a competitive series, and the Pacers acquitted themselves admirably in defeat . . . but it wasn’t the war it was supposed to be. There was never any real question that the Pistons would win, or that the Pacers would make it interesting; but, this series wasn’t one for the ages, and dammit, it was supposed to be. As they say, shit happens. And boy, did it happen.
Game six was also Reggie Miller’s farewell to the NBA. There was a time when I worried that Reggie wouldn’t get his due at the end of his career, but events conspired for him at the same time they conspired against him. Reggie’s farewell was supposed to be much different: a little victory lap around the NBA, coming off the bench and canning three pointers (while pushing off his defender, of course) on a Tuesday night in Milwaukee, far away from the hot lights where he thrived for 17 years. He was still the most dangerous primetime player left in the league, but in 2004-2005, when a big game was on the line, the ball was supposed to be in Jermaine O’Neal’s hands, unless Tinsley found Jackson or Artest streaking in along the baseline.
Yeah, that all changed on November 19th, 2004. The hand wringing is long over; and, amid the howls of doom, it was Miller who stepped into the brink. This assignment, however, was the toughest one that he would ever assume: no longer was he the punk kid fighting for respect, he was the elder statesman who would have to step up one last time to lead his crippled team back to respectability. This was Reggie’s ultimate test . . . and now, it’s time to dispense with the history (8 points in 9 seconds, MSG, 1995 playoffs), and deal with 2004-2005, the true measure of the man . . .
Though conspicuously absent in some games, he showed his Hall-of-Fame self in several others, scoring over 30 in six games, including the night he posted his age (39 points) on the Lakers. He averaged 19.4 ppg in the 30 games O’Neal missed. He averaged just over 19 ppg in the last 25 games of the season, while the Pacers made their playoff push. In spite of everything, Reggie led the Pacers to the playoffs: and once there, he shocked the moribund Pacers back to life with 31 points in game two against the Celtics, followed by 33 in game three. Some will say that he was not a factor after that; but, numbers aside, without Reggie Miller, there was no game seven victory in Boston.
And, here we are, back in Conseco, game six against the Pistons, 27 points on 11 for 16 from the field. The season’s over, the Pistons have wrapped it up, but Reggie had one last objection to the inevitable. In the end, I needn’t have worried: Reggie got his props. But, I need to add mine, so here it goes . . .