words // Zack Schlemmer
Reggie Miller will finally be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the 2012 class, so today we'll take a look back at a vintage Finish Line commercial featuring him and his former arch rival Spike Lee. In case you don't know, Reggie and Spike had a unique rivalry between player and fan throughout some very heated Pacers versus Knicks battles in the NBA Playoffs during the mid 90's. Spike, getting away with more than the average fan, taunted Reggie from the sidelines of Madison Square Garden, and Reggie taunted right back. Much to Spike's chagrin, Reggie usually played even better after trading trash talk with the world's biggest (and most annoying?) Knicks fan.
In this hilarious commercial from Finish Line and Nike, we see Reggie practicing his game, while Spike practices his heckling. At the end, we get a look at the Nike Air Movin' Uptempo from 1996 (a shoe I'm not sure if Reggie ever even wore on court, but cool nonetheless). As for the effects of Spike's trash talking, it must not have bothered Reggie's game too much. Here are his career achievements directly from the NBA.com official Hall of Fame press release:
"Miller was one of the greatest clutch scorers in NBA history, playing his entire 17-season NBA career with the Indiana Pacers finishing as the franchise's all-time leader in points (25,279) and steals (1,505). He was a five-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA Third Team selection and won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996. From Los Angeles, he guided UCLA to the 1985 NIT Championship and finished third on the school's all-time scoring list. He ranks second on the NBA all-time list for three-point field goals made (2,560) and attempted (6,486). He is ninth on the NBA career free-throw percentage list (.888) and seventh in career minutes played (47,619). In addition to some memorable NBA playoff performances, he has the most three-pointers made (320) in playoff history."
