Reggie Miller

Reggie Miller is an American Basketball player, popular amongst the International viewers and sports enthusiasts for his stint with Indian Pacers. Mostly known for his deadly accurate 3 pointers, he was given the nickname – “Knick Killer” after his exceptional performances against Indiana’s NBA opponents New York Knicks. Born on 24th August 1965, Reggie was brought up in Riverside, California. As a kid, he went to the Riverside Polytechnic High School for his primary education. The fact that he was born with hip deformities and had to wear braces on both his legs for several years is still unknown to many.

He has a brother named Darell, who is also a basketball player, and two sisters, one of which plays basketball and the other plays volleyball. By the time he joined the University of California, Los Angeles for his graduation, Reggie had already made quite a name for himself as a professional basketball player. When he completed his graduation, he was second on the all-time list of top-scorers at UCLA, behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar. As a tribute, UCLA retired his jersey no. 31 in 2013. Soon after joining the Indian Pacers as the 11th pick in the first round of 1987 NBA draft, Reggie had to face the wrath of the fans as he was preferred over Indiana native Steve Alford.

But he earned his respect through some mind-blowing performances which made Indian Pacers a perennial playoff team. One of the most notable feats in Miller’s career is the game where he scored “eight points in nine seconds” against New York Knicks. This was the moment after which he was handed over the nickname “Knick Killer.” At the twilight of his career, he had earned so much respect that he became an inspirational figure in the locker-room and all the players worked hard for a single motive – “Winning a championship for Uncle Reggie.”

On 4th January 2005, Pacers’ leader Jermaine O’Neal agreed got himself taken off after scoring 55 points with 2 minutes remaining, just to preserve Miller’s record of 57 points. When he retired, Miller was the all-time leader in 3-point field goals made in NBA and was one of the eight members in the 50-40-90 club who shot 40% or better from 3-point range, 50% or better from the field, and 90% or better from the free-throw line in a single season. He is still considered as the greatest player of all-time at the Indian pacers who retired hi no.31 jersey in 2006.