2,560 career points? In NBA, that’s light work over a lifetime. But what if every single one came from downtown? Now you’re sitting with the sharpshooter gods. Only a couple of legends ever did that, and our guy, the Knick Killer, Reggie Miller is right up there. But the wild part is there’s still one thing that eats at him to this day.

Reggie Miller was arguably the NBA’s first true three-point sniper before the league even realized how deadly that shot could be. The three-point arc arrived shortly before Miller’s debut, and he took full advantage. When the ’90s turned into a defensive slugfest, Miller’s long-range game became an absolute weapon. Even Michael Jordan once admitted, “Playing Reggie Miller drives me nuts.” It tells you everything you need to know about how much of a menace Miller was. For everything he pulled off, clutch shots, on-court battle with MJ, one thing slipped away. And no, it wasn’t that Hall of Fame nod. It’s a championship ring, and that still haunts him.

On a recent episode of the All The Smoke podcast, Reggie opened up about the one thing that still stings. He admitted, “It will always haunt me not winning a chip. It wouldn’t haunt me if I was never so close.”  And man, you can feel that. Miller came painfully close in the 2000 NBA Finals against a stacked Lakers squad. He averaged 24.3 points a game in that series but still fell short. Prime Shaquille O’Neal and young Kobe Bryant were just a different kind of monster.

Reggie spent his entire career with the Indiana Pacers and desperately wanted to bring home a title for that loyal fanbase. He said it best: “It just burns me because you wanna win it for the guys in that locker room…I wanted to win for those dudes for those dudes and the fans.” 

In Indiana, basketball isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. Reggie Miller, who stayed loyal to the Pacers for 18 seasons while stars elsewhere chased rings, became the state’s adopted son. At a 2022 Pacers fan fest, he received a standing ovation just for walking in—a moment that underscored a bond decades in the making.

Even now, Miller openly reflects on the weight of not delivering a championship, especially for teammates like Rik Smits and Dale Davis, who battled beside him in those bruising ‘90s playoff runs. That lingering sense of unfinished business remains part of his legacy—one marked more by loyalty than hardware.

But the 2000 Finals weren’t the only time Reggie felt the heat. It happened again in 1998. After falling short in the Eastern Conference Finals in ’94 and ’95, the Pacers were finally looking like a legit contender. But once again, Michael Jordan’s Bulls stood in their way, shattering Reggie’s dream of a title. Despite all the brutal battles between them, Reggie earned something that not many players can claim: the respect of Michael Jordan himself. And that’s not an easy feat either.

Michael Jordan bestows his reverence upon Reggie Miller

Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller didn’t just play basketball; they waged full-on wars. While MJ usually came out on top, every matchup left him frustrated. Jordan was clearly the better player, but Reggie had a knack for getting under his skin.

“I don’t dislike anybody in the league, but playing Reggie Miller drives me nuts. It’s like chicken-fighting with a woman. His game is all this flopping-type thing… On offense, I use all my 215 pounds and just move him out. But he has his hands on you all the time… I just want to beat his hands off because it’s illegal. It irritates me,” Jordan admitted.

Over the course of his career, Michael faced Reggie 56 times, 49 in the regular season and 7 in the playoffs. And Jordan had the upper hand as he took 36 of those matchups. But it was the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals that truly tested both of them. The Pacers pushed the Bulls to the brink, forcing Game 7 and nearly ending Chicago’s dynasty. But in the end, fate had other plans, and the Bulls took their sixth NBA championship. On the other hand, Reggie was left with another heartbreak.