Reggie Miller comes to back to Bankers Life Fieldhouse Monday night, clad in purple and gold.
Not the real Reggie, of course. He's off somewhere doing his broadcasting thing and loving his retirement from basketball. Someone's coming to town, though, who figuratively resembles him more than anyone else in the NBA today. A formerly brash player fans love to hate, who has weathered the storms with a single franchise and gained widespread admiration as an aging warrior and elder statesman.
Kobe Bryant has been scarce around The Fieldhouse lately. He's only played one quarter of one game there over the past three years because of injuries and the lockout that canceled the Lakers' appearance in the 2011-12 season. At 36 years old, in his 19th season, with the rubber wearing thin on his battle-scarred knees, this could mark his final visit. He has one year remaining on his contract, for a cool $25 million, but time will tell whether his body holds up for another season, or if he'll be healthy enough to play when the Lakers come to Indianapolis next season.
PHOTOS: Kobe Bryant at The Fieldhouse »
One thing's for sure. His body is likely to give out before his will. Love him or hate him, regard him as selfish if you want, and bring up his legal issues, too. But Bryant's dedication, work ethic and willingness to play with pain are as glaring as his talent. He's averaging 25.4 points this season, and became the NBA's third all-time leading scorer in the Lakers' win at Minnesota on Sunday, moving past Michael Jordan. He has 32,310 points, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,384) and Karl Malone (36,928). Miller ranks 17th with 25,279.
Bryant will go down as a better player than Miller because of his superior athleticism, but the similarities between the two are numerous.
They're shooting guards who one day will share a place in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
They had/have longevity, Miller playing 18 seasons and Bryant now in his 19th with the Lakers.
They have stayed put. Miller never made a trade demand during his time with the Pacers, and put on a front of playing the free agency field only once, in 1996. Bryant's history with the Lakers has been rockier. He gave serious thought to signing with the Clippers in 2004, and issued a short-lived trade demand in 2007. Still, he's always been a Laker, and appears more dedicated than ever to remaining one.
They have aged rather gracefully, too. Although regarded as cocky early in their careers, they gathered more league-wide respect with each passing season as their work ethics became obvious and their longevity impressive. Miller, early in his career, participated in an autobiography titled “I Love Being the Enemy,” but by the end of his career dubbed himself “Uncle Reg.” Bryant has been focused and stoic during the Lakers' 8-16 start, and seems to have embraced the role of mentor.
Bryant, in fact, has never been more likable than now, as he tries to lead a losing team out of the wilderness in his finals seasons. He received a standing ovation from the fans in Minnesota on Sunday after hitting the foul shots that nudged him past Jordan's career point total.
“It's just a process,” he said recently of his golden years role. “It involves a lot more teaching. I'm a true competitor. When I say that, I mean that when things are difficult, I compete even harder. I don't run from that. That's not okay. You can't be competitive (just) when things are going well. When things are going badly you have to be equally competitive, even more so.”
Ultimately, a long-term, one-team player such as Miller and (probably) Bryant, or Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki – or for that matter Reggie Wayne with the Colts – has value beyond his stats.
“He becomes a standard-bearer for the franchise's legacy and tradition,” said Donnie Walsh, the Pacers' general manager and president throughout Miller's career. “People will always remember the games they play because they were that good. It's hard to think of the Lakers without Kobe and the Pacers without Reggie.”
Miller did not have the sort of oncourt rivalry with Bryant that he had with Jordan, thanks to geography, but the two had their moments. One that remains a mystery. They got into a fight at the scorer's table after the final buzzer of the Pacers' game in Los Angeles on March 1 2002, one that cleared the benches and left Austin Croshere with a shredded jersey.
Bryant, who was thought to have thrown the first punch, was suspended for two games. Miller, to his disbelief, was suspended for one, two days later in Sacramento. He then issued a statement: “Kobe has other issues he has to deal with. This had nothing to do with me or the basketball game played on Friday evening.”
To this day, neither Miller nor Bryant has offered a specific reason for the fight. Walsh, who was in attendance, has never heard one, either.
“It wasn't at the time, but when I look back on it, it was humorous,” Walsh said. “Because neither guy should be in something like that.”
Their best, and most meaningful, battles, though, came in the 2000 NBA Finals, when the Pacers and Lakers met for the championship. Miller was a couple of months short of 35 then, hanging on to his prime seasons. Bryant was a couple of months short of 22, about to enter his prime. Miller wound up averaging 24.3 points in the series, while Bryant averaged 15.6. But Bryant had what amounted to his career breakout in Game 4 at The Fieldhouse.
Bryant had sprained an ankle early in Game 2, when Jalen Rose stepped under him on a jump shot, and sat out Game 3 in Indianapolis, which the Pacers won to close the Lakers' series lead to 2-1. Game 4 turned out to be the best of the series, certainly the most crucial, and perhaps the most meaningful and dramatic game ever played at The Fieldhouse to this day.
Shaquille O'Neal fouled out with 2:27 left in overtime when the Lakers led by three points, giving the Pacers an injection of hope. Rik Smits immediately hit a jump hook over O'Neal's replacement, John Salley, to make it a one-point game.
“Now you know Kobe is going to take over the game,” television commentator Doug Collins said. And he did. He immediately hit a jumper over Miller from just inside the three-point line, freezing Miller with a stutter-step dribble, to regain a three-point lead for L.A. “How about the poise of this young guy?!” Collins declared.
Smits hit another jump-hook over Salley to make it a one-point game again, but Bryant came back with another jumper from just inside the three-point line, this time over Mark Jackson, to push the lead back to three. “How good is this kid?!” play-by-play voice Bob Costas exclaimed.
Miller then drove past future Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw, drew a foul from Salley and hit two foul shots. Bryant came back to drive on Miller, but Smits blocked his shot out of bounds. Shaw then rebounded Glen Rice's air ball to return the lead to three.
Miller drove the lane again and slipped an underhanded pass to Croshere, but Bryant knocked the ball out of bounds from behind as Croshere went up to shoot. Moments later, Smits drew a foul after the inbound pass and hit two free throws with 28.1 seconds left. The Lakers' lead was one again.
With Miller guarding Bryant, Shaw then drove from the left wing to the right side of the lane and missed a running shot. Derrick McKey, who had just entered the game for Croshere, leaned into Bryant underneath the basket with his left shoulder as the shot went up, but Bryant slipped free and tipped in the ball off the glass with his right hand with 5.9 seconds remaining.
Jalen Rose drew a foul from Rick Fox while cutting toward the inbounds pass after the Pacers called timeout. Miller was allowed to shoot the free throw because no time had come off the clock, and hit it to make it a two-point game. The Pacers had the ball again with a chance to win the game, but Miller missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Miller finished with 35 points. Bryant, bad ankle and all, had 28, 22 after halftime and eight in the overtime period.
“In our mind, this was the championship,” Bryant told Ahmad Rashad in an on-court interview.
“When Shaq fouled out, my mindset was, This game just became an awful lot more interesting than it was. It was fun for me. I laughed about it. I just went out and played relaxed, like I was in the backyard.”
The Lakers now led the series 3-1, and would go on to win it in six. It would be Miller's only shot at a championship and the first of five for Bryant, who now stood front and center in the national spotlight. Their paths would cross again, but never so dramatically.
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