“The Boogeyman is coming.”
That was former Indiana Pacers hall-of-famer Reggie Miller earlier this week in anticipation of calling a playoff game between the Pacers and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. In his nearly 20 year NBA career, Miller was the bane of many Knicks fans’ existence for his clutch shotmaking, trashtalking and gamesmanship.
Some of Miller’s most famous interactions came with Knicks superfan Spike Lee, with whom he has gone back and forth over the years. Now we can add Ben Stiller to the list.
Miller was doing a standup tonight in the tunnel at Madison Square Garden with TNT’s Inside the NBA crew and talking about how much New Yorkers hate him, when one very well-known fan entered the shot.
“People are like, ‘Aren’t you worried about going back to New York City and calling a game?’ No. I’ve owned this city, I’ve owned this building,” said Miller on the broadcast. “So why would I be worried about walking out there?
“I love when New Yorkers come up to me in the airport of walking around the city and the first thing that comes out of their mouth is, ‘I hate you. I really do detest you.’ ”
At that moment, a figure walking down the tunnel past Miller’s left shoulder turned, pointed his finger and mimes shouting at the Pacers great. Turns out, it was none other than Stiller. See the interaction below at about the 90-second mark.
Miller was later shown hugging it out on the sideline with Stiller.
As for Spike, came armed with two framed copies of New York Daily News and NY Post headlines commemorating their contretemps over the years, presenting them to Miller on the broadcast.
