“It didn’t seem right to pop champagne in Boston, as all I ever wanted to do was win a championship in Indiana”: Reggie Miller opens about the time he turned down an offer play alongside the Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen

Akash Murty | 11/12/2021
"It didn't seem right to pop champagne in Boston, as all I ever wanted to do was win a championship in Indiana": Reggie Miller opens about the time he turned down an offer play alongside the Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen

A 42-year-old Reggie Miller finally had the chance to win an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics but the Pacers legend turned it down as it was not the team he wanted to do it with.

Reggie Miller is one of the greatest NBA players to never win a championship. Arguably, the most clutch player of all time, came close several times but couldn’t cross the finish line.

The Pacers sharpshooter did have a big shot to do it though. After the veteran retired from the league he got a chance to sign with the Boston Celtics, who he knew were the clear contenders to win the Championship.

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In 2007, two years after the Indiana Pacers legend retired, Danny Ainge, President of Basketball operations at the Boston Celtics, called Miller with an offer to join the squad that had recently acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

But the loyalty in Reggie didn’t allow him to join another team, be it they were becoming the top contenders to win it all.

Reggie Miller turned down a chance to sign with 2008 NBA Champions, Boston Celtics.

Arguably one of the greatest shooters of all time, who served the Pacers his entire career was too loyal to join any other team even if it meant not winning a Championship.

Miller talked to Bob Kravitz of The Athletic recently, and said this about the time when the then 42-year-old got an offer to join a loaded Celtics team,

“Look, I knew they were stacked to win a championship, and they did, but it just wouldn’t have seemed right to be popping champagne in Boston when we (Indiana) grew up together, we laughed together, we cried so many tears together because we were so close for so many years. How could I be sitting and cheering and laughing because I won my championship and all I ever wanted to do was win in Indiana?”

It was his upbringing that taught him the loyalty he had for a team that took a chance on him even with a bad scouting report.

“I think it’s the military upbringing in me, being loyal, my dad in the Air Force, and being a government worker. They (the Pacers) took a chance on me.”

Reggie just couldn’t win a championship for the team as they ran into, Jordan-led Bulls, Ewing’s Knicks, and Shaq-Kobe’s Lakers.

Reggie wanted to win a Championship but only with the Pacers

All those teams Reggie faced in the Playoffs of the 90s were full of legends and Hall of Famers, while Reggie just played with one HOF in his entire career. Chris Mullin in his mid-30s was struggling with injuries.

Reggie knew the Pacers could not lure any big name as it was a small market team. But still, he wanted to win it there, or not at all.

“People don’t understand — and we’ve seen this when LeBron came back to Cleveland, and now Milwaukee — when small markets win like that, and Indiana is in that category, it’s like winning three or four, it is. We’re not the Lakers, Boston, Chicago. When you win in a small market, those fans live and die with you, Reggie further told Bob Kravitz.”

“And Indiana is such a basketball state, winning there was all I wanted to do. I just knew how special it could be, so I could not in good faith put on another jersey when all my joy and sadness came in one jersey, with one franchise.”

The five-time All-Star did come close in 1999-00, leading the Pacers to the Finals but met Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers.

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Reggie could have had his revenge on Kobe Bryant if he signed with the Celtics in 07, as they went on to beat the Lakers in the Finals that season. But, as the man said, he was just too loyal.

 

 

Post Edited By: Arjun Julka
boston celtics Indiana Pacers Reggie Miller

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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