The first NBA controversy involving Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller is being relitigated for a few seconds in this season’s “Stranger Things.”
The Pacers picked Miller 11th overall in the 1987 NBA Draft. However, many fans expected and yearned for New Castle High School and Indiana University legend Steve Alford, who ended up going in the second round to the Dallas Mavericks.
The 1987-88 season began on Nov. 6, the same date as events happening on the show where high schoolers from the fictional Hawkins, Indiana, save the world from evil entity Vecna.
The merits of Miller and Alford are being debated by soldiers occupying Hawkins as three friends of the heroic kids — (from left in the clip) conspiracy theorist and weapons smuggler Murray Bauman; high school AV Club teacher Scott Clarke, and local police chief and father figure to the character “Eleven” Jim Hopper — are lurking.
One soldier: “You’re telling me Alford wouldn’t have doubled that score?”A second soldier: “Four of six from the field … Reggie’s gonna be something special. You mark my words. Walsh can do no … “
At that point, a security camera is ripped from a post.
The “Walsh” mentioned is Donnie Walsh, who made the Pacers’ personnel decisions for decades. He picked Miller, who scored 25,279 points over 18 seasons on his way to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Alford played four NBA seasons and has been a college basketball coach since the mid 1990s. He currently leads the University of Nevada.
How did Miller and Alford fare in the NBA debuts?
Miller was 4-of-6 shooting from the field with 10 points in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers; Alford 3-of-6, with 6 points and 5 assists in a win over the Utah Jazz.
It’s unclear if any of the kids from the show ever bought a Reggie Miller jersey.
In S5E7 of Stranger Things, we get a brief scene of two guys arguing about Reggie Miller and Steve Alford.
The date in the show was Nov 6, 1987 which is the actual date of Reggie Miller’s first career game in NBA. He went 4 for 6.
Box score: https://t.co/qYn77CaJmS pic.twitter.com/AadTjim4Ah
— iPacers.com (@iPacersblog) December 27, 2025