Reggie Miller recently shared one specific memory that refuses to fade away. Even after a legendary career filled with clutch moments, a single missed opportunity still plays on repeat in his mind.
Speaking on the All The Smoke podcast in an episode, he confessed.
“It will always haunt me, not winning a chip,” Miller admitted. He described the bitter memory as a “nonstop loop… nonstop loop in my head” playing over and over. The hardest part for him is knowing the reality of the situation. As he put it simply, “we had them.”
The memory that haunts him goes all the way back to the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. The Indiana Pacers were up against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
This was Jordan’s final championship run with the Bulls. The series went all the way to a deciding Game 7, and the Pacers had a real chance to pull off the unexpected.
While the Pacers did lead 77–74 late in the game (around the 6-minute mark), the score was actually tied 79–79 with 5:19 remaining. But Chicago fought back to win the game 88-83.
What bothers Miller most is his own performance. After scoring 15 points in the first half, Miller was held to 0 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with a team-high 22 points
Getting so close to taking down a giant is exactly why this specific loss hurts more.
Yet, that series was just one chapter in a long story of deep playoff runs that always ended in heartbreak.
Reggie Miller’s Hall of Fame Career Without a Championship
Reggie Miller spent his entire 18-season career playing for the Indiana Pacers. He managed to lead the franchise to the playoffs 15 different times.
In 1994, he pushed the New York Knicks to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite his famous 39-point game, the team still fell short.
The Pacers returned to the conference finals in 1995, only to lose another seven-game series to the Orlando Magic.
He broke through to the NBA Finals in the year 2000. Going up against the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, Miller gave almost everything.
He averaged 24.3 points per game in the series. Still, the Lakers proved to be too much for the Pacers.
Miller’s legacy is secure as a 2012 Hall of Fame inductee. He retired as the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made before Ray Allen came along.
The memory of what could have been in 1998 still haunts him today. What do you think about Reggie Miller’s amazing career and his painful near-miss in 1998?