Reggie Miller is one of the most widely respected guard and as one of the most precise shooters in NBA history. He even earned the nickname “Knick Killer” for his ability to steal games away from the New York Knicks in high-pressure situations.
Now as one of the top basketball commentators and analysts in the business; I was fortunate enough to sit down with the sporting legend on behalf of M&F. I quickly soon found out that the 58-year-old is busier than ever thanks to his obsession with cycling and is working on an exciting new project: a reboot of those famous Miller Lite commercials.
“Well, the best thing is having older brothers and sisters,” says Miller when asked about how he was able to develop a competitive spirit and not let peer pressure ruin his potential. “Being the youngest boy; you always want to feel like you are a big dog like your older brothers and sisters, and tag along. They were always going to the park to play baseball and basketball, and flag football, and tag, and I wanted to be part of that. All our social interactions were around a ball and sport, so when it’s ingrained in you from such a young age, and this is what you want to do, it keeps you on that beaten path trying to hang with your older brothers and sisters.”
Becoming a Great Shooter Takes Getting the Reps In
Staying committed is one thing, but becoming one of the greatest hoop shooters of all time is another. Miller scored 8 points in 9 seconds in the Pacers classic victory over the Knicks in 1995. “It’s not by accident that Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Larry Bird.. all these great shooters… Are you born with it? You are born maybe with your hand-eye but you gotta be able to hone it in,” explains the icon.
Miller says that when it comes to improving a skill, repetition is key. “I was obsessed when I was at a young age, I wanted to be known as the greatest shooter of all time and at one point I felt that I was. So, I did a lot of reps and spent time on different angles. Different arcs to my shot, and again, growing up in a competitive family, being knocked down a lot because I was younger and smaller and skinnier than my brothers and sisters, that builds up the will for you… I wanted to be the greatest shooter, and I put the time in. I think in any sport, or any business venture that you do, you’ve got to put sweat equity into things.”
How Reggie Miller Stays Cool Under Pressure
“I broke it down into its simplest form,” says Miller. “I put it to myself like this, [success is] 50-50. If we are at 50-050 and I spend countless hours working in the gym on my craft, well now we’ve creeped up to 60-40. That’s UCLA, and then professionally I spent more time in the gym, so then it went to 70-30. So those were the odds, and how I kinda formulated things in my head. I kind of tricked myself, when there was a last-minute shot to take I said; ‘Well I’ve got a 70 percent chance of making it, and I’m going to go with those odds because I know how long I’ve put into this craft.”
It’s been nearly two decades since Miller retired. Now, Miller says he “has the best seat in the house” to observe the current era of the NBA. “To watch these great athletes night in, night out. They have taken this game to a different level. I thought the glory years were the late ’80s and ’90s, with Michael Jordan and Karl Malone and Charles Barkley, but today’s players are just as gifted and talented.”
Miller is still passionate about being active and has found love for a new sport: cycling. “I’m obsessed with cycling,” says the legend, who loves to race mountain bikes and has also dabbled in gravel races. “But most of my training is done on the road because you can go longer and further on a road bike. But what really got me obsessed with biking was being outdoors on a mountain bike; no cells phones and at one with nature.” A quick check of Miller’s Instagram account reveals his obsession for bicycles is very real. “I consider bikes to be like potato chips,” he jokes. “You just can’t have one!”
It’s Always Reggie Miller Time
Reggie Miller is busier than ever. Not only does he provide basketball analysis and commentary, and manages to escape on his bike whenever possible, but he has also been snapped-up to star in a reboot of the iconic Miller Lite commercials that became so iconic in the late seventies and eighties and featured sporting legends debating what was best about the beverage. Was it the fact that it tasted great, or was it because the drink was less filling?
“We all remember the commercials,” says the athlete. “John Madden, Rodney Dangerfield, my favorite was obviously Bob Uecker. Growing up in Riverside, CA, my first love was baseball and I thought I was going to be the next Rod Carew, so watching baseball games with my dad any by brothers and seeing these commercials popup… You know, Bob Uecker, people want to knock his baseball acumen, but he was so funny as a comedian in these commercials.”
Miller Lite is capitalizing on the current love of all things retro by resurrecting those classic ads with Reggie Miller in play, so I asked the icon what he remembers about the good old days when he was two-time All Pac-10 at UCLA in the mid ’80s. “I didn’t have the flowing hair like a lot of your cover models on Muscle & Fitness. I didn’t have a big ‘fro either,” he laughs. “I could never grow a ‘fro, that was the most frustrating thing! But, I did have a pretty good mullet! Now, mullets were huge back then, in the early ’80s, I think we called it a shag. I had a great-looking shag back in the day!”
Wanting to settle the great Miller Lite debate once and for all, I had to put the age-old question to the man himself. So, what is most the important aspect of a great beer? Is it the taste, or does it have to be less filling? “Are you kidding me right now,” retorts the baller. “We just talked about fitness, and all of that, so why would I need less filling when I already know that I look good in my suit [laughs] from all my bike rides. It’s all about great taste! Don’t let all that other stuff fool you, because I look good!”
Far from being a worn down, bitter athlete, Reggie Miller is loving life. “I was very fortunate, very blessed,” reflects the star. “To have played eighteen seasons professionally with The Indiana Pacers, all with one team, and look, you go through a lot of battles and wars that you won and a lot more wars that you lost, but its mutual respect when you get a chance to kinda get together with former teammates, or colleagues that you played against, and share those stories because when you are in the middle of it, you are always focusing on winning and getting better, and climbing up the totem pole, and it’s not until you retire and take two, three, four steps back that you kinda say; ‘you know what? That was a cool run that I had professionally in the game of basketball, from being a champ to traveling the world.’”