For Old Time’s Sake: Reggie Miller

Reggie is the single most overrated player in the history of the NBA quite frankly. He doesn’t have the stats (per game averages are infinitely more important than career totals) or the rings. He made 5 all-star teams over 18 years, which seems relevant bc the coaches pick the bench every year, meaning only about 28% of the time did coaches feel Miller was even one of the 7 best bench players in the conference! Never was one of the best 10 players in the league. Could shoot the lights out, but frankly was mediocre to poor in all other areas of note (defense, passing, ball-handeling, rebounding, etc…) and the funny thing is an abnormal percentage of his points come from the foul line, where he flopped and got away with more bs calls than anyone from his era. He was fortune to stay healthy for a long time and had some very high profile NYC playoff games at a time when the NBA was hurting for stars during Jordan’s break from hoops. Was Reggie a good player? Sure. But career averages of 18, 3, and 3, with no rings had makes no logical sense for the hall-of-fame. I have no doubt he will get in, making guys like Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, etc… scratch their heads and say “Wait a minute, I was better than that guy.” And they’ll be right. Bottom line: Reggie was NEVER a top tier player in the NBA. But for some reason people now remember it differently. It’s inexplicable