Hail to the Villain: Reggie Miller, Hall of Famer

 

I want you to look at the picture at the top of this post.  Don’t focus on the guy taking the shot. Focus on the fans in the background. Look at their faces. The ball is still in the shooters hands, and everyone in the crowd is horrified. Some are even pre-emptively pulling their hair out.  They have no idea whether the shot will be made or not, yet they clearly do. They’ve seen this movie before and it does not contain a happy ending for the home-team. This one player has tortured this fan base for so long that the mere sight of him with the ball in his hands is enough to reduce grown men to a group of terrified children. The game is not over, yet they know they’ve already lost.

And you’re going to try and tell me that Reggie Miller isn’t a Hall of Famer?

Reggie Miller is probably responsible for more memorable NBA moments from 90’s than any player not named Michael Jordan, but its more than just the fact that Reggie continuously won games with some of the most miraculous performances imaginable.  It’s that he won those games in the most obnoxious, villainous way possible. It wasn’t enough to score 25 4^th quarter points to comeback and win a playoff game against the New York Knicks in New York, he had to do so while trash-talking Knick super-fan Spike Lee the entire quarter and giving him the “choking” gesture toward the end of the game. It wasn’t that he somehow scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds to erase a 6-point deficit, its that he knocked Greg Anthony to the floor in the process and acted like he barely touched him, only to later admit that, yeah, he knocked him over. It wasn’t that he hit a 3 with .4 seconds left to beat the Bulls in the Easter Conference Finals, its that he blatantly shoved Michael Jordan out of the way to get open enough to get the shot off. On the court, Reggie Miller was a capital A- Asshole, which only amplified the rage when said asshole then ripped the heart of your team in the most ridiculous way possible.

I always loved Reggie. When it comes to sports, I’ve always been a bit of a contrarian. Everyone loves Michael Jordan? Well, then I’m going to root for the guys going against him. Reggie Miller has the entire city of New York ready to murder him in cold-blood? That sounds like my type of player. But beyond all that, I’ve always admired players that embraced the bad guy role. Sometimes, emotions get heated on a basketball court, and you’re not terribly fond of the guys or fans you’re playing against. The fake platitudes and cliché compliments to the other team always feel disingenuous to me, and love to hear players come out and admit, “You know what, yeah, I really don’t like these guys and their fans suck too.” The honesty is refreshing and entertaining.

I’m not sure when, or even if, we’ll get another Reggie Miller. There isn’t a player in the league right now that is as feared in the clutch as Reggie was. There are clutch players, to be sure, but nobody with Reggie’s reputation for being damn near automatic anywhere within 30 feet of the basket. And even if there was a player with Reggie-level clutchness, the villain is almost extinct from basketball today. With AAU basketball and the mass team switching in free agency, coupled with every player going to absurd lengths to not say or do anything to alienate potential fans and harm their brand, the current culture isn’t conducive to breeding a player with such a desire to play the heel. And despite his many enemies, he was universally respected and admired around the league, leading to maybe the coolest end of a career in history.

Being the bad guy isn't such a bad way to go after all.

You can follow Andy on twitter @AMOhoop34