reggie miller – Sportscolumn Blog

Apparently pulling down Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in one off-season just isn’t enough for the Boston Celtics and now they are attempting to coax the greatest 3-point shooter in league history out of retirement. Celtics GM Danny Ainge has been talking to Reggie Miller about joining the All-Star squad for a run at the franchise’s first championship since some guy named Larry Bird was suiting up.

It looks like Ainge is going to follow in the footsteps of the late 90s/early 2000s Portland Trailblazers who tried to simply stack as much talent as possible onto that roster. It almost worked for the Blazers but an incredible Game 7, furious fourth quarter comeback by the Lakers in the West Finals was capped off by a Kobe Bryant to Shaquille O’Neal alley-oop and the rest is history. The opportunity to play another season and possibly go to his second NBA Finals has to be tempting for Miller, but, then again, only working one day a week while pulling down some excellent TV money is a pretty sweet gig in itself.

And before anyone starts saying that Miller has to come back because it will be his best chance at a title, don’t forget that Mark Cuban tried to recruit Miller to the Mavericks and he turned them down. Now, we all know about the horrible collapses by Dallas in the past couple of postseasons, but Miller would have been on an extremely competitive team who is always at the top of the list for possible title contenders. That’s something that Boston can’t be labeled as…yet. Anyways, we gotta figure that Miller is flattered, but he’s probably going to pass on the offer. After all, would you give up a chance to hang out with the Chuckster every week in exchange for running your 42-year-old body into the ground? And if he does say no, Ainge could always ask Reggie’s big sis to lace `em up.

Links:

[KCCI.com]: Celtics Shoot At Acquiring Reggie Miller

1. It’s Always Miller Time
First it was Scottie Pippen. Then it was Shawn Kemp. And now there’s a rumor that Reggie Miller could be returning to the court. Actually, Miller’s name was brought up by Mark Cuban before the Mavs went out and destroyed the Hawks, 110-87, on Monday night. This could all be completely fabricated, but if the skinny shooting guard is really considering making a return with Dallas it could spell disaster for the rest of the league. This is the absolute best opportunity for Miller to pick up a ring, but after fighting for 18 seasons in Indy, there’s no guarantee the greatest 3-point shooter of all-time will be content with a brief stint on a team in return for a championship.

2. More Mavs
The Mavericks also made some news on the court last night as they became the first team in league history to three winning streaks of 12 games or more. Dallas is currently on their second 12 game win streak of the season, with their first streak also being 12 and their second streak lasting for 13 games. In all, only four teams have been able to put together three separate streaks of at least ten wins with the last one coming in 1999-2000 when the Lakers ripped off win streaks of 16, 19 and 11. And for just a bit more perspective on this accomplishment, there are 11 teams that have never had a 12 game winning streak in the history of their franchise: Charlotte, Cleveland, Golden State, Indiana (as an NBA franchise), L.A. Clippers, Minnesota, New Orleans/Oklahoma City, Orlando, Toronto, Memphis and Washington.

3. Clipper Clipped
The Clippers had a serious scare last night when Shaun Livingston hurt his left knee early in the game. His knee completely twisted underneath him in a gruesome manner as he fell while running on a break away slam. Luckily, X-rays were negative but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some serious damage. Livingston was coming of a career-high game with 14 assists on Saturday but the kid has never played a complete season. The Clips want Livingston to start taking over the ball handling responsibilities with Sam Cassell approaching the end of his career, but it’s going to be tough for L.A. to ever find consistency with a player who is chronically injured. Livingston has now dislocated each of his knees during his brief NBA career. But what do you really expect; they are the Clippers after all.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Tim Duncan vs. Toronto 34 min, 24 pts (FG: 11-15, FT: 2-4), 16 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 4 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (47-9) @ Minnesota (26-30) The Mavs have won 12 straight but they are right in the middle of a tough stretch in which they play six games in ten days. Tonight’s game is also the second of a back-to-back for Dallas after they defeated Atlanta last night. Despite dropping two in a row in Minnesota, the Timberwolves are actually a pretty tough opponent in their own gym. On the season they are 17-11 in Minnesota where they have defeated teams like Washington, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago and Utah. Kevin Garnett has been attacking the glass lately with 36 boards in his last two games.

Buzzer Beater: Kobe Bryant led the Lakers past the Jazz on Monday night with 35 points, but they probably didn’t come in the fashion your thinking about. As he does sometimes, Bryant struggled from the field but like any good superstar he drove to the hoop and created contact. Kobe basically camped out at the free throw line where he was 21-24 for the game, while he was only 7-21 from the field. LA got big efforts from Smush Parker and Lamar Odom, but that’s not typical for the Lakers. Next up for the purple and gold is a rivalry game against the Kings.