There are athletes who dazzle with their stats, and then there are those who are remembered for the chaos they create for the opponents just by being on the court. For former New York Knicks shooting guard John Starks, there was a different kind of nightmare named Reggie Miller, who didn’t need to dribble the air out of the ball or cross anyone up; his specialty was to test endurance by just keeping moving. Miller was known for slicing through defenses like a whisper, one you couldn’t silence.
Fans still recall this competition not for numbers but for memories. Starks and Miller were at the center of every battle when the Knicks and Pacers fought in the playoffs six times in the 1990s. Both were strong rivals, but where Starks wore his heart on his sleeve, Miller played like a shadow that poked, provoked, and glided past you before you even reacted. Starks’s most recent confession in an ESHE Magazine video was therefore really impactful.
“Hardest person to guard, believe it or not, is probably Reggie Miller,” said Starks. “He was like Steph Curry… He did a lot of running, and those guys are always very difficult to guard. Plus, he had guys like 6’11, seven-foot trying to knock your block off to get him open.” It wasn’t just a compliment, it was a confession in front of the next generation. Unlike the legend Michael Jordan, who Starks considered tough to stop but less difficult to guard due to his more stationary offensive style of playing, Miller was a huge test for his lungs. The struggle was with your own stamina, your own composure as much as with Miller’s.
Reggie Miller respected the statement and didn’t let the moment pass. Posting the video on his Instagram story, the Hall of Famer wrote, “Appreciate our battles John, you made a brotha work for EVERYthing.” That one phrase reflects all the years of rivalry, rage and respect and a unique kind of brotherhood created only in the fire of strong competition.
The psychology of a rivalry: How Reggie turned mind games into mastery
While one can never forget the clutch shots and infamous “8 points in 9 seconds” dagger in 1995, Reggie’s most dangerous weapon wasn’t his release, but it was his research that he used against his opponents fairly. “I love me some John Starks,” Miller once said. “But unlike ‘Mad Max’ [Vernon Maxwell], Starks could be triggered. And I knew that.” Miller once revealed how he used mind games to get into the heads of his opponents.
Playing every game as though it could be his last, Starks, who traveled the hard road to NBA fame from bagging groceries to balling in Madison Square Garden, though commendable, that zeal also made him dangerous. “I’d talk to Oakley or Patrick [Ewing] in earshot of him… it would trigger him,” Reggie admitted. “Because he couldn’t control his emotions.” Miller knew how to exploit him.
May 19, 1998, Chicago, IL, USA: Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan keeps the ball from Indiana Pacers Reggie Miller during the first quarter of a playoff game on May 19, 1998 at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. Chicago USA – ZUMAm67 19980519zafm67001 Copyright: xCharlesxCherneyx
That manipulation worked. Over 33 head-to-head matchups, Starks averaged 14.8 points on 44 percent shooting figures that don’t say collapse but do imply some instability, particularly under pressure of the playoffs. Starks was passionate. Miller, though? He possessed the blueprint of psychology.
The post Decades Before Steph Curry, Reggie Miller’s Terror on Knicks Still Haunts New York Legend appeared first on EssentiallySports.
