Reggie Miller

Lore & Background

Miller played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, earning third-team All-American honors as a junior in 1986. He was selected by Indiana in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft with the 11th overall pick. When he retired from playing, Miller held the NBA record for most career 3-point field goals made. His 2,560 three-pointers ranked seventh on the all-time list, behind Stephen Curry, James Harden, Ray Allen, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, and LeBron James. Miller led the league in free throw percentage five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. His jersey number 31 was retired by the Pacers in 2006. Miller is widely regarded as the Pacers' greatest player of all time. After his playing career, he became an NBA commentator for TNT and college basketball analyst for CBS Sports.

Reader's Guide

Miller was born in Riverside, California, and attended Riverside Polytechnic High School. He was born with hip deformities, which prevented him from walking correctly. After a few years of continuously wearing braces on both legs, his leg strength grew enough to compensate. One of five siblings, he comes from an athletic family. His brother Darrell is a former Major League Baseball player; his sister Tammy played volleyball at Cal State Fullerton; and his older sister Cheryl is also a Hall of Fame basketball player. Cheryl was a member of the 1984 U.S. gold medal-winning Olympic basketball team and is an analyst for Turner Sports. One of the family anecdotes Reggie likes to recall was when Cheryl used to beat him in games of 1-on-1 prior to his professional career. According to Reggie, they quit playing when he could finally block Cheryl's shots. Miller says his unorthodox shooting style was developed to arc his shot over his sister's constant shot blocking. His brother, Saul Jr., became a musician and followed in his father's footsteps in military service. Miller attended UCLA, where he received a degree in history. In the 1984–85 NCAA season he helped the UCLA Bruins to an NIT championship. In Miller's senior season, 1986–87, he was an All-Pac-10 selection for the second straight year, and led the Bruins to a Pacific-10 regular-season championship and the first Pac-10 tournament championship. The three-point field goal was added for the 1986–87 season; 69 of Miller's 247 field goals that year were three-pointers. One of his most memorable performances was in the January 24, 1987, game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he hit a 24 ft shot to put the Bruins ahead 62–59 with 10 seconds left. Another notable game was a win against defending national champion Louisville and Pervis Ellison on February 28, 1987, where Miller scored 33 points in the second half, which is still the school record. Miller's final game was a loss in the second round of the 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament to Wyoming. He finished second in all-time scoring at UCLA behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As of 2009, Miller still holds the UCLA single-season records for most league points, highest league scoring average, and most free throws. He also holds several individual game records. UCLA retired his No.

Did You Know?

• Miller scored 57 points against the Charlotte Hornets on November 28, 1992, a Pacers NBA franchise record.
• He scored eight points in 8.9 seconds against the New York Knicks on May 7, 1995, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
• Miller's jersey number 31 was retired by the Pacers in 2006 and by UCLA in 2013.