“When people say they don’t regret not winning a championship, they’re lying”: Pacers legend Reggie Miller regrets his Game 7 losses more than cherishing his countless game winning shots

The Indiana Pacers legend and one of the most loyal players in NBA history, Reggie Miller, still regrets not winning a Championship.

Reggie Miller is a top name that comes to mind when you think of great players who never won a championship. Some of them try to do it with different teams and get the tags, like ‘ring chasers’.

But Reggie didn’t chase rings, he was determined that to do it for the team that drafted him. Miller was the 11th pick in a draft that also had David Robinson and Scottie Pippen.

Playing at UCLA, he ranked 4th in the nation in scoring, but 10 teams passed over him before the Indiana Pacers selected him. They took a risk on a slender-looking guy who was not close to the physical attributes of an NBA player, but never regretted a day after selecting him.

Also read: “You motherf***ers are soft like Charmin…Now I see why we’ve lost 20 f***ing games.”: Kobe Bryant talking trash to his teammates has Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley in splits

Although the Pacers were not a big-market team, their ownership change in the mid-80s brought a little more spark in the matches against much bigger teams.

After drafting Reggie, they became even better. Pacers played the best basketball of the franchise history since the Merger when Miller was on the floor for them. Reggie led them to 15 Playoffs in his 18 seasons. They made it to just two before drafting him.

Reggie Miller still rues not winning a Championship

The only thing Reggie couldn’t do for his beloved franchise was bringing a Championship, and it still haunts him.

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) December 9, 2021

The 5-time All-Star came close thrice, twice in the Eastern Conference Finals, first against the Patrick Ewing led Knicks in 1994, then the Chicago Bulls of 98. He was just one game away from spoiling Michael Jordan’s “Last Dance”. But lost the game 7 to the determined Bulls.

Next year, the “Knick Killer” again made it to the Conference Finals to get defeated by the Knicks team whom he destroyed just the year before.

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) June 1, 2021

Miller eventually led the Pacers to the Finals in 2000, just to face a hungry Shaq-Kobe duo, who won that year as well the next two Championships.

Reggie could have joined any team studded with superstars, and they would have welcomed the league’s most clutch player with a max contract. But he wanted to do it with the Pacers or not at all. The Indianapolis team was never able to bring big-name players. Miller only got to play with one Hall of Famer throughout his career, Chris Mullin, in his mid-thirties.

Also read: Reggie Miller opens about the time he turned down an offer play alongside the Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen

“Miller Time” went on to play more games with the same team as all but two players in NBA history — John Stockton and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz.

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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