Reggie Miller: Stephenson has attitude, just not the game
TNT’s Reggie Miller joined the show to talk about the playoffs, Michael Jordan and more. Here are some of Reggie’s takes:
— Miller had strong comments on his former team the Pacers: “I was very disappointed the last two and half months of the season. This is a team that absolutely had championship aspirations. And really could have pushed the Heat a little bit more. To me, the Heat yawned through this series. I don’t think [the Pacers] pushed them at all.”
— Miller on Lance Stephenson: “I love Lance Stephenson. I give him all the credit for trying. He tried something while the other guys didn’t. If Paul George had the attitude of Lance Stephenson, he’d be on par with LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Lance has the killer instinct. He just doesn’t have the game.”
— Miller says every team has one guy who people consider crazy: “You gotta have a little bit of crazy on your team. Bird Man is that for the Heat. Greg Popovich is that for the Spurs. You go back to every NBA championship … It was [Dennis] Rodman … For Detroit it was Ben Wallace. For Houston it was Vernon Maxwell. Every team had one person, where you looked at him and said, I ain’t saying crap to that dude.”
— Miller on Roy Hibbert: “If I was on that team, I still would be fighting Roy Hibbert right now. That can’t happen, man. You’re the biggest dude out there.”
— Dan asked if Michael Jordan’s shadow is good for the NBA. “I will always say yes,” Miller said. “Isn’t baseball identified by the Yankees? For NBA it’s gotta be about Jordan.
— On what made Jordan so special: “He was a transcendent athlete. He ushered in the baggier shorts. The swagger. Tongue out. A lot of people grew up with Michael Jordan … in the age of television with digital right around the corner. He was on the cusp of all this. That’s why there’s an affinity toward Michael Jordan.”
— Dan asked what Derek Fisher should do — play one more year or coach?
“If I’m Derek Fisher,” said Miller, “I take the Knicks job. Unbelievable career. Was on the floor in the closing moments of Game 6. In my opinion, it’s time to take the next step and be a coach.”
Miller thinks both the Lakers and Knicks jobs would be good for Fisher: “He could learn under Phil Jackson in New York. He would be great in the spotlight of the New York media. Or come home to a place where he’s won championships with the Lakers and coach his good friend Kobe Bryant.”