Reggie Miller is considered one of the greatest shooters of all time. So, if Miller has high praise for someone, it must be an all-time great talent. Praising one such talent, he once crowned a European player, “the best shooter he has ever seen.” Years back, during an episode of ‘Open Court’, Miller opened up about who he thought was the best shooter.
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Being a nominee himself, Miller would convincingly put the European over himself. Drazen Petrovic, a Croatian national, who had made his debut in 1989, was the man Miller called his “nemesis” and the best shooter he has ever seen.
Talking about Petrovich, Miller would recall,
“There is one guy that tops me…it was the late great Drazen Petrovic. When he came off screens, this guy started to talk to you. You couldn’t understand him, and he smelt like he had never taken a shower. Talk about wanting to strangle someone, Drazen Petrovic was my nemesis.”
Petrovic tragically died in a car accident in 1993, leaving many questioning if he could have been an all-time great. In his last season, Petrovic would average 22.3 points on 51.8% shooting on the field. He also shot 44.9% from three and made 52.9% on his 2-point shots.
But Miller wasn’t the only one to have high praise for Petrovic, as Lakers superstar LeBron James also had nothing but praise for Petrovic. On being asked who he thought was the greatest European player of all time, LeBron would answer,
“All-Time? Best international player of all time? Dirk (Nowitzki) or Petrovic. His ability to shoot the ball and he was very athletic. He wasn’t afraid of anything….. He wasn’t afraid of the moment, he wasn’t afraid of anything, and you know he was awesome.”
LeBron and Petrovic would never play together, but for most kids growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Petrovic was the prototypical shooting guard, the ‘Stephen Curry’ of their generation. Even if playstyles differ, Petrovic would be among the first to run around screens and shoot 30-foot bombs, leaving defenses floundered.
Even among European greats, Petrovic seems to be held in high regard, as even Dirk Nowitzki considers the Croatian star “one of the best European players ever.”
Reggie Miller had high praise for his nemesis
Reggie Miller was a great trash talker, often playing mind games with his opponents. But someone like Drazen seemed unfazed by Miller’s antics, mostly due to language barriers. But Drazen’s antics affected Miller a lot, more so due to his skill and incredible shot-making capacity.
Having battled against greats like Chris Mullen and Ray Allen, Miller seems to truly believe that Petrovic was the best. In fact, by the end of Allen’s career, many considered the Celtics great to be better than Miller, a compliment that very few have ever earned. But Miller and Allen would meet each other during the twilight of Miller’s career, leading to Allen blowing the old Indiana legend out of the water.
Since Miller’s retirement, a single player has broken most of his records while also garnering popular support as being the ‘greatest shooter of all time’. Stephen Curry seems to have already topped both Allen and Miller, while also getting the ‘nod’ from the duo. Back in 2022, both Miller and Allen were asked about their opinion on the shooting GOAT debate.
Though Miller and Allen didn’t directly name Steph as the greatest, they did include #30 in the list of greatest shooters of all time. The duo seemed to be confident in their skills, calling the contest between them and Steph to be a close one. Though we will never know, who truly is the greatest shooter of all time, Curry is indeed the favorite going in.
