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Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif
Among the greatest players in history, Larry Bird has a voice that carries weight when he hands out compliments. He notably paid an incredible tribute to a 90s legend, one of Michael Jordan’s greatest rivals.
Titles aren’t everything when you want to become an NBA legend. Just ask players like Charles Barkley or Reggie Miller, the latter of whom is a true living god on the Pacers’ side. Having played only for this franchise throughout his career, the guard has put together great performances like this incredible hot streak in the second round of the 1995 playoffs, scoring 8 points in 9 seconds against the Knicks:
30 years ago today, Reggie Miller did the unthinkable and scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds to lead us to a 107-105 win over the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/DeU10UQ8L0
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 7, 2025
Larry Bird grand admiration for Reggie Miller
As mentioned above, “Uncle Reg” never managed to win a ring, notably losing in the Finals to the Lakers in 2000. But the man with more than 25.000 career points and who was once the most prolific three-point shooter in history nonetheless left his mark on his peers, including thanks to his work ethic. Larry Bird, who was his coach at Indiana, did not mince his words on TNT:
When I was around Reggie, everything that Reggie did was the right way. He knew how to prepare himself, he knew how many shots he had taken after practice, how many free throws, he knew before games how he was going to warm up, and he did it the right way. I’ve been in the league for a long time, and he might be the only guy, maybe another one, that really prepared himself to play great, not just to play but play great.
Coming from one of the ten greatest basketball players of all time, that’s the ultimate compliment. As a reminder, Miller wasn’t even expected to pursue a career in sports due to major health issues in his youth. But his unwavering work ethic allowed him to become a Hall of Famer and a universally respected figure. His former teammate Sam Perkins also had high praise for him on Legends of Sports:
I always respected Kobe. I really liked him a lot on and off the court, but his demeanor and how he approached the game was pretty much unlike anyone else I’ve played with. Anyone similar would probably have been Reggie Miller. Because Reggie prepared himself for each game, not because there was a game on the schedule that he played, but his mindset was for the whole season. And so, I think Kobe was the same way.
