Reggie Miller: Beyond the Glory (Basketball Documentary)

we could barely get around and I certainly couldn't run and he certainly couldn't jump he would try to move around but wasn't very mobile and Oto's heard my mom and dad say man if he just able to just walk it's a miracle while the rest of the Miller family played ferocious games of backyard basketball Reggie sat on the sidelines [Music] watching from the the kitchen window with your mom you know not having the opportunity to go out there because you're wearing braces it was tough [Music] Reggie's legs gradually straightened as he grew older eager to compete he challenged his older sister to games of one-on-one but Cheryl Miller was no ordinary sister she was on her way to becoming the greatest female basketball player of her time Sheryl by far in the younger days would just trample all over he was just a skinny little twig more times than not we've come to blows oh we hit it and you know dad's coming out don't you ever put your hands on your brother but as their competitions grew fierce Sheryl and Reggie drew close only a year apart and age they teamed up to hustle kids around the neighborhood and games of two on two and that's the guy they want to play 2-1 to Italy for sure but you know who's your second as I call my sister any guys will start laughing and you know since you have the girl you go first and that's all she wrote and then we're walking away I'm like here's your cut and here's my good Reggie practiced his outside shot 500 times a day when Cheryl's high school teammates came over to practice her little brother began to show his stuff because flat out shoot and he would never miss and that's how he ended up with that high high arc he's got to Cheryl would be guarding him having a chance to play with these very talented and beautiful women I mean you know the guy you're like yeah sure you know I hope either I'll be the odd man out Reggie became a hotshot on his high school team when 90 scored 39 points only to discover Lee got home that Cheryl had topped him again he did cocaine I never had a home court advantage I was always on the road Reggie was largely ignored by major colleges he only got an offer from his dream school UCLA after their top recruits went somewhere else but my heart was set on going to UCLA every kid California wants to go to UCLA but I had to wait until they came knockin while Sheryl was leading crosstown rival USC to a national title and winning an Olympic gold medal in 1984 Reggie struggled to make his mark at UCLA by his second year he was just playing a showmanship on and off the court you could really dance [Music] got some serious moves but as Reggie blossomed as a player posing fans tried to throw him off his game by chanting Cheryl's name in derision whenever he touched the ball every single time Reggie touched the ball they would yell Cheryl Cheryl Cheryl Cheryl Cheryl and every time he came on the cord they'd be chatting Cheryl and it would drive most people bonkers instead of wilting under the pressure Reggie soaked it up [Music] vej wanted to prove that he was tough and did not want people to think that he was weak or soft because of his size with his frame or cuz he was Cheryl's little brother he's got a nasty streak about him I wonder where that came from Miller's in-your-face attitude rub some people the wrong way but when he played pickup ball in the summer against NBA stars like Magic Johnson Byron Scott and Michael Cooper they told him to keep it up I've never seen a guy work as hard as Reggie Miller I'm come on every day those guys were cut through when they played pickup games and all they wanted to do was win and you know they were my teachers so they share some of the blame in the spring of 1985 Miller led UCLA to the NIT title game against Bobby Knights Indiana Hoosiers scoring 18 points to drive his team to victory so cocky his team is so cocky we had no shot of beating them in the NIT and we smoked them Reggie Miller had delivered his calling card Indiana before long he would lead Indiana into battle on Broadway's biggest stage who is a leash doesn't wrath against me I wasn't psycho but [Music] [Applause] Reggie Miller had overcome a crippling childhood handicap I'm a college star who's headed to the pros but on NBA draft night 1987 he was selected by a team who never heard from Pacers select Reggie Miller of UCLA India have they want anything I said I don't know Riddler this is news to me because I don't even think they had a team if Reggie was surprised by the pick Indiana fans were angry their homegrown star Steve Alford had just led the Hoosiers to the NCAA title we were talking about a real local hero who at that time was being compared to Larry Bird and people like that and so when we took Reggie Miller that was you know that was a shock to the system of a lot of people here opening the paper and saying Reggie who offered this may ruin great I'm on the road again [Applause] in his first season Miller broke the record for three-pointers by a rookie by his third year he was averaging 25 points a game the better he got the more opponents tried to break him down with punishing physical play this guy becoming off the screen and they would hit him so hard that he would go to his knees he then get up say something to him and hit the next three Reggie's a lot tougher than he looks you can beat him up you can knock him down but he seems like he always gets up but while Miller paid his dues a few outside Indiana took notice friends urged him to play out his contract and sign with a better team Reggie refused I was one of the people saying hey you know play for the Lakers you'll never be a star in Indiana there's a lot of people telling me to go elsewhere but I just couldn't do it that did the character of a man is to establish something where no one else has ever done before [Applause] regi devoted himself to his new home he paid visits to local school kids boasted a talk show for teens he grew comfortable in a community that felt a lot like Riverside you know you could walk down the street and say hello how's your day and people said the low back started to grow accustomed to the to the quiet life Reggie was settling into Indiana for the long run in 1992 he and his girlfriend the model and aspiring actress from Chicago named Marita Stavro remarried Reggie called it the happiest day of his life I was young thinking ideally this is you know what you want Morita was everything that Richie always wanted and then something and Indiana is not that far from Mayberry so in his in his mind and in his heart he's got the perfect setting the perfect pitch as Reggie and Morita settled into Indiana his team he can to find its groove as well in the spring of 1994 under new coach Larry Brown Pacers won their first NBA playoff series then they won round to bringing Hoosier fever to a boil [Applause] he's so loud another scary and the city is so electrical alive in a conference notorious for its toughness the New York Knicks were the biggest bullies on the block the team that combines swaggering attitude with knock down physical play they just always thought they were so much better than everyone else the New Yorkers and they just thought that you know they were God's gift to basketball you know that kind of irked me a little bit with the series not in at two games apiece the next took a commanding lead through three quarters of Game five at Madison Square Garden Miller was shooting poorly and hearing about it from the next number one fan Spike Lee I hear you know here on a sideline you know and you're going down India Hicks and all this like okay I wanna try to shoot this well every single time just to make a point Miller drained 1/3 after the next and followed each basket by taunting spike it was just like he just snap you know grab this private soon it was very public of me with everybody saw it and and then he did that and both those things were directed towards me that got tired of hearing his damn mouth you know like you know what it's entertainment and you pay good money for these seats you ain't gonna talk to me any old kind of way somehow who is unleashed as a wrath against me that like I was playing of something Miller's dramatic display carried the Pacers to victory announcing his arrival as an NBA star turning spike into a scapegoat for the next two feet I'm on the front page me being blamed for the loss he is their biggest fan god bless him everyone should have especially that's that loyal but sometimes you gotta know when to say win despite Miller's heroics the Knicks came back to win the series in seven games but by the time it ended Reggie had put his team on the map and turned his courtside confrontation with Spike Lee into the stuff of legends everywhere I go in the world people have so spike pals Reggie Reggie how's your friend Reggie we did a commercial together after that nice shot Cheryl readies the cops if Tonya shot hey you only did Indiana how you shoot these things they're heavy like the next year he did the same thing back at Madison Square Garden for the first game of the 1995 Conference semifinals the Knicks held a six-point lead with 18 seconds to play the game seemed all but over - everyone but Miller so many people that was at the game and left I know so many players that thought it was over on both teams but here you had a guy that saw there was still time left [Applause] let's train and it's 105 lat I hit the first three though says I got I was like I'm stepping back onto the three and I really hitting a shot and then looking at spike Indiana win the game and the series cementing Reggie strep you tation is we what's the biggest nightmare I was right there and disbelief concede his victory just evaporate no one else likes me they might say they do with it blow on my finger good work so I feel that I was helping out a nation where the Pacers lost the next series in seven games Reggie Miller had become a Heartland hero but a sinister crime would turn that triumph dash's it was like the towering inferno of nothing but flames you can hear that hurt in his voice you can see that tears in his eyes that made me think is it all worth it and I really didn't think it was [Applause] - classic playoff series with the New York Knicks propelled the Indiana Pacers to the top ranks of NBA contenders and transformed Reggie Miller into an Indiana icon it was great to watch his pitch on the side of the building great to watch the way that people embrace him because he worked his tail off and he deserved it now it's it's flip-flop you know it's aren't you aren't you Reggie system maybe I'll start TV for the third time as the Pacers searched towards the playoffs in 1996 but less than two weeks before they begin is luck ran out in the clock the turning gun is off to heal our quest rebound [Applause] Miller went to the hospital with a concussion a sprained neck and a fractured orbital bone ear as I suck at the required surgery and put his future up for grabs he was really scared that not only would he not be able to to get back or maybe even play again I thought my the the orbital was gonna affect my vision and obviously being a shooter and shooting from long distance that's my livelihood it's just flashbacks of when he was a little kid with the braces aren't because he's having difficulty walking he's like kind of you know bobbing and weaving and you know he doesn't have his balance and I'm like oh man not again not again not as hard as he worked but his Miller watched his team struggle from the sidelines he vowed to return to the court 22 days later with Indiana facing playoff elimination he did just that risking his recovery to keep the Pacers hopes alive people talk about Willis Reed limping out of the locker room well here's Reggie Miller talk about his eye I thought he was crazy because he was taking it to the goal against big players and he just did it with abandon [Applause] he showed us today the part of the lion though the Pacers lost the series Miller stature grew he helped the US Olympic team win a gold medal in the summer of 1996 taking his place on the victory stand beside his fellow superstars but when Reggie returned to Indiana that fall he was quickly knocked off his pedestal [Music] the Pacers and Miller played poorly throughout the season and when negotiations for a new contract bogged down the fans showed him little sympathy his game was off he wasn't playing in its best shots weren't falling I think a lot of that had to do with the turmoil that he was going through off of the floor while Reggie was struggling with the Pacers his wife Marita was trying to launch an acting career in Hollywood their long separations and career conflicts took a toll in the marriage she was a city girl from Chicago really never never liked Indiana she was in different places I was in different places and people grow apart as the Pacers stumbled through the season in Miller's contract dispute dragged on the mood in Indiana got ugly Reggie began to receive anonymous phone calls at his home he's getting death threats people are talking about if you don't sign whatever they want you know using the n-word we don't shoot your dogs I really didn't appreciate some of the messages especially for someone who I felt I was giving my all to Indiana you know I always feel if you treat people the way you want to be treated there shouldn't be no such thing as racism and unfortunately there is and now I'm hearing him tell me that you know what Cheryl maybe I need to go in effort to sustain their marriage Reggie Marita bought a large elegant house on a lakefront and Indianapolis by May of 1997 they moved in their belongings and we're preparing to move in themselves he's desperately trying to do everything to hold on to some semblance of normality you know cuz everything else is chaotic in the early morning hours of May 15th while Marita was working in Los Angeles a phone call at his old house woke Reggie from his sleep never gonna call at 4:00 4:30 in the morning there's a fire at your house I'm like no there's not I'm at the house I'm at my house as I know you knew the house on a quiet it's Reggie drove toward the house clouds have smoke filled the sky by the time he got there the blaze was out of control so I see all the smoke see all the helicopters out there I mean it was like the towering inferno it was nothing but flames I'm thinking my god what what is this Hamilton County authorities say the intense blaze that destroyed pacer guard Reggie Miller's home was no accident that the fire that brought down the 2 million dollar home on Geist reservoir was arson cause they're saying as arson but how do they know that I was not in there that could be potential murder I can watch him standing on you know the freshly burnt wood trying to figure out why would somebody do this I said because I'm black is it because the contract is it because you know the team's not doing well you know what did I ever do what did I ever do to these people you know this contract negotiations are going on and I mean I'm like someone's burning down my house you know I really want to stay here in Indiana in the weeks that followed the fire no arrests were made leaving Miller plenty of time to ponder the motives behind the crime he started to get the copycat letters with people saying I did it you know it made me sit back and start to think is it all worth it and I really didn't think it was Miller told Pacers GM dining Walsh that he planned to retire and leave Indiana but while Reggie was still ruminating on his future we got a phone call from the Pacers new head coach Larry Bird I understand going through you were respecting the decision I decided to do but he says but I'm just gonna say one thing this city and myself really need you my thing was I just tell Reggie that we need to get this franchise back on speed he's going through a tough time but it seems like time heals all wounds and this is very legend one of the greatest athletes of our time telling me who hasn't won you know we need you here [Music] Reggie Miller would put his faith in him you know one more time and lay his reputation on the line against the greatest player of them all I knew he was the best and everyone knew he was the best but I thought that I could better help you want to do well I'm not doing well to different type of players but when the game's on the line we both wanted to ball [Music] with bird at the helm the Pacers took off and Hillier took over he nailed game-winning shots 14 times during the regular season then let Indiana into another playoff battle against New York [Applause] a couple seconds left everybody mama knows Reggie's gonna get the ball and as the ball was in the air Reggie was wide open the entire garden Oh [Music] okay it's time to go home spike the Pacers were back in the Eastern Conference Finals this time with a chance to dethrone the five-time champion Chicago Bulls and for Reggie the chance to go head to head with Michael Jordan this is what I've always been waiting for it to go against Michael this is what I've always wanted and more than a decade milord and squaring off against Jordan on the court sometimes coming up short but always stepping up to the challenge this residue always went out and competed with them and you can tell because Michael get angry [Applause] now Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller having a go at it and I mean we get fiscal here come the Reggie Miller Michael Jordan and Larry Bird were the three biggest trash talkers in the history of this game but they were also three of the best to back it up I wasn't the best athlete fastest the quickest jump the highest that wasn't me do I think I can play with the best of them yeah but when the 1998 Conference Finals began Michael Jordan seized control leading the Bulls to two victories in Chicago to make matters worse Miller sprained an ankle in the third quarter of Game three you're playing you know Chicago Bulls on a national stage it was not gonna let Michael know that you know he wasn't 100% physically playing through the pain another scored 20 points to lead Indiana to victory then down by a point with two seconds to play at the end of Game four phasers put their hopes on Reggie shoulders with 2.9 seconds Harper's on Miller the team [Applause] I was jumping I'm like oh my god my ankle is hurting but who cares I just had to shod [Applause] revived the basis push the series Dylan taking a six-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game seven but just when it appeared that Indiana might be thrown Chicago and make it to the NBA Finals the Bulls lured back to win he truly believed that they were gonna eliminate the Chicago Bulls I mean the shock was that they didn't we should have won we had a game seven we hadn't and we blew it Miller's frustrations weren't over the next season Indiana was beaten in the Conference Finals yet again this time by their nemesis the Knicks [Applause] [Music] ever make desperate to get his team over the hump Mueller spent the offseason in 1999 working harder than ever before he's trying to put a little more weight on he's lifting weights harder he almost became obsessed with the fact that he hadn't been able to get over that hill but after nine trips to the playoffs agent injuries were wearing down Miller and his teammates when the 2000 playoffs began the Pacers stumbled and were pushed to the brink of elimination in the first round [Music] they already lost in the first round you know they would have been you know considered just a a complete flop rallying his teammates before the decisive game 5 Miller laid his reputation on the line by donning a Superman t-shirt as he entered the arena I said to myself that it was going to take a superhuman effort and what could really good things riled up than me out there wearing the Man of Steel then he played like him it's going 41 points to save the series Reggie was on a roll he let the Pacers to victory over Philadelphia in six games and it was on to New York for the Eastern Conference crown the one final showdown against the Knicks that made shots Nagaina probably will never make again step back threes and up and unders and I've never seen a guy stay focused and stay with it as well as Reggie the Indiana Pacers on their way to the NBA Finals for the first time in their history okay guys hugged my teammates even tighter no they got pride any longer here was a guy that's been an underdog his whole life and there's always somebody maybe a little faster a little bigger a little more athletic and he couldn't quite turn the corner but finally game six and the bully's backyard Reggie melon won that fight Miller had taken Indiana to the NBA Finals for the first time in their history only to encounter the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers but Miller refused to let his team go quietly we rally the Pacers with emotionally charged performances averaging 27 points in the final five games but in the end the Lakers all-star do of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal proved too much defeating Indiana four games to two and bringing another season of triumph to a bittersweet end oh you had the little Superman against big Superman his t-shirt just wasn't powerful enough to beat Jack that's good when people patch on the back of sale it's a competitive series but bottom line is there's no jewelry on your finger they've got the jewelry and you don't Reggie Miller had taken his team as far as it could go back in Indiana he still had one more score to settle it's something that I don't think you will ever really recover from because it's in his mind if you don't know if there's someone out there that just doesn't like you for you after ten trips to the playoffs Reggie Miller had finally made it to the NBA Finals but once the season ended Larry Bird left his coach and several top players were traded or retired ending Indiana's reign as contenders and leaving Miller the task of starting from scratch once more I was devastated we had just come off a very taxing six-game finals loss to the Lakers hoping a chance to go at it again and everyone's gone Reggie was starting over and were ways than one his marriage with Marita had gradually crumbled after years of putting on a facade for the public their divorce became official in April of 2001 no one ever wants to get divorced but thinks it's a curse so I probably stayed truthfully four years longer than I should have [Music] the arsonist who burned Miller's home to the ground in the spring of 1997 was never found and though Reggie rebuilt the house the mystery behind the crime has left lasting scars should this day we haven't found out what the hell this is and you'll get your occasional letters every six months you know remember me it's the not knowing that's killing me about what happened but Miller channeled his pain in other ways raising money for the survivors of the New York firefighters who died during 9/11 and helping child burn victims through the Reggie Miller Foundation it's finishing the plate this thing tried to beat me and I'm going to the core of what this thing is and I'm gonna make a difference brothers and sister cats and dogs what's your dog's name as a heart for kids and he understands that that you know if it wasn't for some serious grace imparted to him you know he could be one of those kids he's visiting Miller is mentoring a younger generation on the court as well on a Pacers team filled with up-and-coming talent he's become uncle Reggie a battle-tested veteran from the old school hopefully I do especially today me in the face is not even for a while and you like a father father for everybody I think he definitely wants to help the younger guys on our team and I think you will help these guys Beach their own son play the right play we play the right way guys we can win but that's the hard part this channeling which you know to a younger generation by the summer of 2003 Reggie Miller was nearly 38 years old and a free agent with one last shot at the brass ring but despite offers to join more proven title contenders [Applause] he chose to finish his career where it began in Indiana I wasn't just gonna go chase a championship and jump on someone else's bandwagon and I just couldn't do that for being such a shrewd businessman he was real stupid on Indiana and I would have preferred that he went somewhere where he whenever I mean that's what he really wants but he's loyal away from the court Miller lives a low-key lifestyle that suits his surroundings making time for old friends and old fashioned pleasures Reggie is really boring off the court extremely boring very low-key he's he's born no he's not shy he's just straight-up born I consider myself a loser at heart they've accepted me I've accepted it now I know we are a year and a half behind most big cities in fashion and culture and and everything else music everything or always behind the times Reggie Miller beat the odds to become one of the great clutch performers in all of sports showed his courage and his character by standing with his team his franchise and his community when it mattered most Reggie Miller is Indian there's a time when you could have said Bobby Knight there's a time when you could have said Larry Bird but over the last 16 17 years and Counting Reggie Miller has been the show he's the type of guy that you would want your kids to grow up be like we're by knows loves him they should because he's special person we're scared of losers we're afraid of living life we were afraid of taking that risk all of us that's my mankind you know likes the Reggie Miller's of the world does you know what he is not afraid he's not afraid to fail and that's truly why we play athletics and professional sports you're living in the moment that's what I love about it just give me the ball make your how old I did give me the bow [Music] [Music]

Channel: AllBasketballUniverse

Views: 301,979

Keywords: Reggie Miller, beyond the glory, NBA, basketball, player, sports, history, athlete, sport, incredible, shooter, shot, make, basket, point, points, game, all star, greatest, ever, world, record, Pacers, playoffs, highlights, career, documentary, best, lebron, james, kobe, jordan, bryant, lakers, wade, worst, knicks, celtics, legend, treatment, hosting, recovery, loans, mortgage, insurance, credit, claim, degree, classes, rehab, donate

Id: zVWyPXzSGnE

Length: 36min 52sec (2212 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 21 2013