Reggie Miller’s rivalry with the New York Knicks and their fans is the gift that keeps giving.
Miller wants Knicks fans to leave him alone while also defending himself against any allegations of bias. But if Miller wants New York fans to let him live in peace, he certainly isn’t doing a good job of helping himself, as he unnerved the fanbase—yet again—on Mark Jackson’s podcast last week.
“This is why I can’t stand the Knicks…They’re frontrunners. They think they’re god’s gift to basketball…Where gasoline was poured on it was when Josh Hart came over to me…Think he was trying to be funny…’FU’…He shouldn’t have come over & said that…”
–– Reggie Miller pic.twitter.com/VVpp9sG9Uw
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 12, 2024
“This is why I cannot stand the Knicks, because, to me, they’re frontrunners,” Miller said while explaining his disdain for the Knicks and their fans. “They think that their God’s gift to basketball. Now that you guys know that you’re gonna win the game. The chants, OK…Should’ve left it at that, and we all could’ve moved on. Where gasoline was poured on it is when Josh (Hart) came over to me…I don’t think — I don’t know what was in his head. But I don’t think there was anything malicious. I think he was trying to be funny.
“But for him to, again, pour gasoline on it…Because all you heard on the mic was him saying, ‘FU.’ So people thought he just came over to me and said, ‘FU,’ which wasn’t the case. Like why am I being dragged into the series? I’m here to work.”
But this is the same Miller who also directly inserted himself in the crosshairs.
“Well, he shouldn’t have come over and said it in the first place,” Miller added, regarding Hart’s hot mic moment. “But, it is what it is. So…”
Mark Jackson even highlighted the inconsistency in Miller’s argument.
He noted Miller only reappeared to troll the Knicks and their fans once the Pacers secured the series win, then highlighted Miller’s social media taunt telling Jalen Brunson and Co. to “heal up in Cancun.”
“What is so wrong with that?” he asked. “Tell me, what is wrong with that? I am not in the series. I had nothing to do with the series. But then I got dragged into it; I did my job. But again, being frontrunners, there was no need for it. But it is what it is. It won’t be the first time. Look, the thing about the Knicks and the Pacers – they’re both young, right? They’re both young teams, and it’s gonna be years to come, kind of like it was in the 90s. And I very well can see these two teams battling each other, along with Boston, for the Eastern Conference crown.”
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.