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Reggie Miller never was exactly a paragon of defensive virtue during his NBA career in previous All-Star Game. Nor has any other player in NBA history, if the tapes are to be studied.
But the Basketball Hall of Famer, current Turner analyst and five-time All-Star player still can’t believe what the game has turned into.
“Uncle Reg” ripped the 192-182 game Sunday night in New Orleans as “a joke” during an interview this week with the Dan Patrick Show. It set an NBA record for most combined points scored by both teams in a game.
“I understand it’s a glorified exhibition game,” Miller said. “The game means nothing, the fans want to be entertained.
“But there has to be at some point some competition between the best players in the world. Last night, it was almost a joke. It was comical … Usually come fourth quarter in a close game, which this was, the guys usually say ‘O.K., let’s go for it now, let’s get after it. And that didn’t happen and that’s disappointing. And it’s been like that for the last 3 years.”
Miller said today’s style of play is entertaining, but cloying as he wants the game to at least matter at the end.
“I love seeing the dunks, I love seeing the passes, I love being entertained as well but I want the players just to compete for 8 minutes in the fourth,” Miller said.
It led both Miller and Patrick to sound like members of Red Auerbach’s Boston Celtics as they ripped the game.
“So yeah, the younger generation and the millennials, that’s all this was about — this was a fantastic All-Star Game,” Miller said. “Guys of our generation (thought) ‘this is a joke and mockery of the game.'”
It sounds like John Wall and Boogie Cousins and other new generation NBA stars better not walk by Miller’s home — especially if he’s sitting outside on his porch.
Or else, they might be in severe danger of being told to getting off his lawn.
Tgriffin@express-news.net
Twitter: @TimGriffinBig12
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