LeBron James is acting kind of strange when it comes to Reggie Miller
LeBron James joined all-time great Oscar Robertson on an elite statistical list Monday, and had plenty of nice things to say about the "Big O" after he completed the accomplishment.
James and Robertson are the only players in NBA history to rank in the top 25 in career points and assists.
But as James gets set to pass Reggie Miller on the all-time scoring list (he trails him by just five points for the 18th spot), he couldn't come up with anything positive to say when he was asked about Miller's career. Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com has the details:
But James had the same chance to say something nice about another hall-of-famer he's about to pass – Reggie Miller, who's just five points ahead of him for 18th place in league history in scoring – and he balked.
Miller retired as the game's greatest three-point shooter and as the league's 11th-highest scorer, two spots he's lost over time. But it will be long before he's forgotten as one of NBA's elite marksmen, especially in crunch time.
And yet, when it was mentioned to James Monday morning that he would soon pass Miller, he was asked if he had a favorite memory from Miller's career.
"Uh, no," James said, standing in silence until another question was asked on a different topic.
I asked James after the game Monday night if I had missed something with him and Miller, if there was a beef.
"Nah, I have no problem with Reggie," James said, with a hint of a smile.
So, why might James be acting so coy where Miller is concerned? Chris Yuscavage of Complex has a couple of ideas.
Could it be because Miller recently said he would pick Larry Bird over LeBron in a draft? Or because Miller once ripped LeBron for reaching out to Hakeem Olajuwon and other NBA greats for help?
James isn't usually this quiet or mysterious about things, so it's possible some hard feelings really do exist. Perhaps we'll hear more from LeBron about Miller when he passes him up on the scoring list in Toronto on Wednesday.
