That day at Boston Celtics history, old Indiana Pacers legendary rear shooter Reggie Miller Miller turned down Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge’s offer to join the 2007-08 Celtics as he sought to assemble a title contender that summer. Miller, a luminary known for his lethal outside shot, had been retired for two seasons after 18 campaigns with the Pacers. However, he really took the offer into consideration when he got the call from Ainge.
“I’m always flattered when my name is mentioned as someone who can still help an NBA team win a championship,” the then-NBA analyst told TNT via ESPN’s JA Adande.
“(I) reached out to Reggie, and he’s considering coming back with us,” Ainge shared of the prospect of adding Miller to the juggernaut he’s assembled.
Without a ring despite nearly two decades in the NBA, the offer was attractive to Miller, even after his long hiatus as a player and his relatively advanced age.
Ultimately, the prospect of life on the road was too much for the former Pacer to bear, or so he said at the time.
“I can still shoot with the best of them,” the all-time leading 3-point shooter said at the time (Ray Allen was still far from surpassing him in total of 3 points scored) by Adande.
“Mentally, I don’t know if I can last eight months,” he says. “In February, in March, I would have been dead.”
“I want people to know that I didn’t come back because I was bored,” Miller added. “I wasn’t. Michael Jordan was bored when he came back. I didn’t miss the games, I didn’t miss the locker room, I didn’t miss the bus, I didn’t miss the planes. I wanted to come back and play with Kevin (Garnet) and maybe win a championship.”
“That’s why I took it seriously and did a program of two sessions a day for two weeks straight,” he added.
And that was the end of Reggie Miller’s chance to play for Celtic.
Miller later admitted that it just wasn’t enough to get him in shape, according to Shira Springer of the Boston Globe. Ainge revealed that if he had known that was the obstacle, he would have given the legend more time, creating one of the most intriguing “what ifs” in Celtics history.
Finally, it is also the date on which the Celtics beat the The Philadelphia 76ers110-106, to win Game 4 of the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs against their Atlantic Division rival.
Held in the so-called Orlando bubble at this late date due to the pandemic, Boston completed the four-game series sweep.
Thirty-two points from the veteran goalie Kemb Walker and 28 points plus 15 rebounds, a career high for the budding star forward Jayson Tatum secured the victory, making it the Sixers’ first playoff sweep in both teams’ history.
“That’s why I came to Boston,” Walker said. said “That’s what I’m here for. To play high-level basketball every night. That’s what we did.”
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This article was originally published on Celtics Wire: Celtics History: Miller Refuses to Join Team, Sweeps 76ers in Bubble
