“Don’t ever trash talk Black Jesus”: When Reggie Miller trash talked Michael Jordan in a preseason Bulls game and got shut down in the second half

Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan developed a rivalry over the course of their many seasons competing with each other in the NBA.

The only two teams to push the threepeating Bulls were the New York Knicks in 1992 and the Indiana Pacers in 1998. Over the course of the 90s, the Pacers were one of the most consistent teams in the league.

Powered by the shooting of Reggie Miller and a great supporting cast around him, they pushed Jordan’s Bulls to the limit in the Eastern Conference Finals of 1998. It took some vintage defensive plays from the likes of Jordan, Pippen and Rodman for Chicago to make their third straight Finals.

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Reggie Miller played MJ for the first time ever in a preseason game as a rookie. He recounted the circumstances in hilarious fashion in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live once.

Reggie Miller talks about how trash talking Michael Jordan went wrong

Miller recounted the amazing tale of how MJ gave him his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment:

“My rookie year we were playing the Chicago Bulls. Most veterans do not like to play in exhibition games, they want to get to the real thing. I’m a wide-eyed, energetic rookie and…Michael’s going through the motions.”

“Chuck Person—who’s on my team—who is a trash-talker as well, is like, “Can you believe Michael Jordan, the guy everyone’s talking about, who’s supposed to be able to walk on water? You’re out here killing him, Reg! … You should be talking to him!” And I was like, “You know what, you’re right!”

“Michael…who do you think you are? The great Michael Jordan? That’s right, there’s a new kid on town!” He kind of looks at me and starts shaking his head. So at half I have 10, and he has four points…end of the game, the second half, he ended up with 44 and I ended up with 12. So he outscored me 40-2. And as he’s walking off, he’s like, “Be sure, and be careful, you never talk to Black Jesus like that.”

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