Reggie Miller: Not a Hall of Fame Finalist

The voters somehow didn’t think Reggie belongs on the list in his first year of eligibility. The NY Times reports: “When the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announces its finalists for the class of 2011 on Friday, one name will be conspicuous in its absence: that of Reggie Miller, the former Indiana Pacers sharpshooter, who is in his first year of eligibility. Miller, 45, who retired in 2005 and will be in Los Angeles this weekend as an analyst for TNT during All-Star weekend, was not on the Hall of Fame’s list, according to a person who was made aware that Miller had not been chosen and who asked for anonymity because the results had not been made public … Four groups from the Hall take part in the voting: the North American, the Veterans, the International and the Women’s Committees. To become a finalist from the North American group, nominees must receive approval on at least seven of nine ballots. The other committees require approval from at least five of the seven. To be selected for the Hall, a finalist needs at least 18 of 24 votes from what is known as the Honors Committee, a group consisting of Hall of Famers, basketball executives, members of the news media and other contributors to the game. Committee members are not aware of one another’s identities … Told that Miller was not among the finalists, Donnie Walsh, the Knicks’ president but a Pacers executive when Miller played, said he was surprised. ‘I just know this, if he’s not a Hall of Fame guy, I don’t know who is,’ said Walsh, who drafted Miller 11th over all out of U.C.L.A. in 1987, taking a pass on the in-state favorite Steve Alford.”