On a recent episode of the Come And Talk 2 Me podcast, former Indiana Pacers guards Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson talked about their time with the team.
Jackson and Miller shared a backcourt in Indianapolis from 1995 to 2000. They played on some of the best Pacers teams of all time, reaching the NBA Finals in 2000 after falling one game short in 1998.
Larry Bird, the renowned player who later became a coach and executive, served as their coach from 1998 to 2000. Bird won coach of the year in 1998 and was mainly successful in leading the Pacers with his distinct approach.
Miller and Jackson recounted a game in which they had an unforgettable encounter with Bird. “We were in the layup line, and Reg and I, as captains of the team, we had to go back and talk to Larry Bird before the game,” Jackson recalled. He couldn’t recall why they needed to bother the coach, so the two jogged off the floor and into the back of the arena.
From there, Miller took over the narrative. “Jack and I go back to the locker room and ask, ‘Where’s Coach Bird?'” The pair was told that their instructor was in his office, so they went to check, but he was not there. Slick Leonard, a former Pacers coach who was a commentator at the time, suggested to the players that Bird might be near the showers.
“We went back to the shower because we needed to ask him this question,” Miller said. “Before we go out there, turn around the corner. Larry Legend is sitting on a chair, holding a pack of Newports. “He is just smoking away.”
“What do you guys need?” Miller recalled what Bird said.
The two former players never specified where the tale went from there, only that the sight had an impact on their game that night. Neither Jackson nor Miller ever brought it up with Bird. The full podcast episode may be accessed here, with this story appearing late in the episode.
