On a recent episode of the Come and talk to me podcastFormer Indiana Pacers guards Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson discussed some of their experiences with the Pacers franchise.
Jackson and Miller shared the court in Indianapolis from 1995 to 2000. They teamed on some of the best Pacers teams of all time: They were one game away from the NBA Finals in 1998 and got there in 2000.
Their coach during the 1998-2000 seasons was Larry Bird, a legendary player turned coach turned executive. Bird won the 1998 Coach of the Year award and had great success leading the Pacers with his unique style.
Miller and Jackson recall one game in which the two men had a memorable interaction with Bird. “We were at the layup line, and Reg and I, as team captains, had to go back and talk to Larry Bird before the game,” Jackson began. He didn’t remember what they were interested in, but the two men ran off the court and went to the back of the arena.
From there, Miller took up the story. “Jack and I went back to the locker room and were like, ‘Where’s Coach Bird?’ They were told their coach was in his office, so they went to check and he wasn’t there. Slick Leonard, a former Pacers coach who was a commentator at the time, suggested to the players that Bird might be in the shower area.
“We go back to the shower because we had to ask him that question,” Miller continued. “Before we went out, we walked around the corner. Larry Legend is sitting in a chair, he’s got a pack of Newports. He’s smoking.”
“What do you need?” Bird asked, according to Miller’s recollection.
The two former players never explained what happened from there, only saying the scene affected their play that night. Neither Jackson nor Miller ever spoke to Bird about it. The full podcast episode can be found herewith this story coming at the end of the episode.
