“I hated Kobe Bryant because he denied me of my ultimate goal”: Reggie Miller expressed his disdain for the Lakers legend after losing to him in 2000

Reggie Miller lost to Kobe Bryant and Shaq in the 2000 NBA Finals, leading to him holding a certain level of hatred against them. 

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers prevented a ton of superstars from ever winning a championship in the NBA. 2001 had Allen Iverson winning merely one game in the Finals and 2002 saw guys like Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin get denied the opportunity to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. 

However, the Finals that started it all for the purple and gold at the turn of the new century was their victory over the Indiana Pacers in the 2000

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This series took 6 games for the Lakers to put away with Shaquille O’Neal, the reigning MVP, proving to be too much for Rik Smits and company, averaging 38 points and 16.7 rebounds. 

Kobe Bryant was relatively quiet during this series but considering the fact that he was only 21 years old and this was his first Finals, it pans out. Besides, he did have his legendary Game 4 performance where he scored 28 points in 47 minutes, taking over after Shaq was ejected from the game. 

Reggie Miller on Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. 

Reggie Miller quite the spectacular games during the 2000 NBA Finals. Though his efficiency wasn’t all too great, he went bucket for bucket with Kobe during Game 4, dropping 35 points, while also having 33 points in Game 3. he would of course, lose in 6 games and wouldn’t ever reach an NBA Finals. 

In 2016, Reggie told USA Today, “I hate him [Kobe] because in 2000 when we battled for the championship, he was just too good. Obviously, along with Shaq, that Lakers team denied me from the ultimate goal in winning a championship. I love him, I hate him, and I respect him.” 

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A pretty fair reaction to losing the one chance you get in winning it all, in all honesty. He showed Bean love but as any competitor would feel, he holds a certain grudge against him and those Lakers. 

It should be noted that Miller once said that Michael Jordan was 10x better than Kobe Bryant even on his worst day. So his feelings towards Bryant may be skewed towards a more negative spectrum.