Spike Lee may have buried the hatchet with Reggie Miller stemming from his 1990s feud with the former Pacers star, but Miller doesn’t expect New Yorkers to have gotten past it.
Miller was the archvillain during the height of the rivalry between the Knicks and Pacers — which included two classic playoff series in 1994 and 1995 — and will be part of the TNT broadcast crew that calls Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
The NBA great turned analyst is expecting to hear from Knicks fans when he steps into the Garden later this week.
“I will be surprised during the game if I don’t hear, ‘Reggie sucks,’” Miller said on Monday’s episode “The Dan Patrick Show.” “Actually, I’ll be a little hurt if I don’t hear, ‘Reggie sucks.’ I kind of want that.”
Miller said he was “looking forward” to getting to help call the series between the Knicks and Pacers as the two sides meet in the postseason for the first time since 2013.
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The five-time NBA All-Star told Patrick that there won’t be any favoritism or bias when he helps to call Game 2 alongside play-by-play man Brian Anderson and analyst Stan Van Gundy.
“For 18 years, was I an Indiana Pacer? Absolutely,” Miller said. “But, I’m sure I’ll hear the chants, I’m sure I’ll hear all those naughty words, I’m good with that. But I’m there to do a job, to call a game. I’m sure this will be a great series.”
Miller added: “But just know, the Boogeyman is coming back to town to call the game. I am coming.”
Reggie Miller guards Allen Houston in 2003. AP Reggie Miller shoots, as Knicks John Starks(3), is late to defend on March 15, 1998. New York PostMiller famously broke Knicks fans’ hearts during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in 1995 by scoring eight points in nine seconds to lead Indiana to a win and an eventual series victory.
The year before that, Miller became linked to Lee for the rest of time when the Knicks superfan’s antics helped motivate Miller during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals and led him to score 25 points in the fourth quarter while the two exchanged trash talk.
Miller infamously made a choking gesture toward Lee in that game, though the film director and the Knicks got the last laugh when New York made it to the NBA Finals that season.
The Pacers star also scored 34 points against the Knicks in a series-clinching win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2000.
Lee recently told The Post that he had moved on from the rivalry with Miller.
“There’s no rivalry between Reggie and I. It’s all love. Peace and love. Two grown Black men who respect each other,” he said.
Miller seemed to echo that during the interview on “The Dan Patrick Show,” though it didn’t seem as emphatic about it as Lee did.
“We will forever be linked. Now, we have put a lot of our baggage under the bridge,” Miller said. “We have been friendly at All-Star Games and he was at when we did the All-Star luncheon for the legends, he was there. He presented an award for me, so we’ve been kind of cool.
Reggie Miller celebrates beating the Knicks to reach the NBA Finals in 2000. New York Post“But we haven’t faced…our Pacers and Knicks have not faced each other. Now we are, I’m going to be in the building and tensions are because both teams have a chance to be in the conference finals.”
The series begins on Monday night at MSG.
