Miller joins Albert on TNT announcing team after ending comeback bid

(AP)- Reggie
Miller won’t be chasing the NBA championship that eluded him during his 18-year
career.

He decided
against a comeback bid at 42 years old with the Boston Celtics. Instead, the
former Indiana Pacers star might announce some of their games.

He is
teaming exclusively with Hall-of-Famer Marv Albert this season to form one of
Turner Network Television’s top basketball announcing teams.

The
Albert-Miller pairing makes sense because many of their signature moments the
past two decades are connected.

“For
so many years, he was the voice of my career and so many of my big games
against the Knicks and the Bulls,” Miller told The Associated Press.”To be
working side-by-side with him – I’m very humbled and very honored because a lot
of people don’t get put in this position.”

Their
debut will be Oct. 30, when

Portland visits

San Antonio.

Miller
joined TNT after retiring from the NBA two seasons ago. He split time between
studio and color work before being moved strictly to game analysis this season.
Miller and Albert have worked together just enough to get comfortable and build
a rapport.

“He
got it so quickly from a broadcasting point of view,” Albert said.”He just had
it. I always feel you have it or you don’t.”

Miller
felt he still had it as a basketball player and wanted to find out after he got
a call from Danny Ainge,

Boston’s
executive director of basketball operations. Miller said he went through three
weeks of two-a-days and gave it his best shot before returning to TNT.

“Once
I got through that first week, I was fine, and my body probably could have held
up for eight months,” he said. “I don’t think for eight months, mentally,
I could have done it. The first two months, I would have been so excited, but
December, January and February, those dog days of the NBA, I’d be like ‘What
the hell am I doing? I could have been chilling in

Malibu.”’

The
Celtics have added several players including former Timberwolves star Kevin
Garnett in their bid to win the title. If they succeed, Miller said he will
have regrets.

“It
will hurt,” he said.”I know Kevin Garnett is going to have an unbelievable
year because he’s like a kid in a candy store. The excitement is back. If you
give a player of his magnitude and skill excitement, you surround him with a
Paul Pierce and a Ray Allen, and those other two guys are somewhat getting a
get-out-of-jail-free card as well, it’s magic waiting to happen.”

Albert
said Miller carries the same attributes that set him apart as a player into his
color commentary.

“I
think people related to him because he was so expressive, there was so much
emotion,” Albert said.”In his heyday, he really stood out. You knew who he was.
Aside from the fact that he was such a good player, there was an identity, a
style to him.”

Albert and
Miller agree on their favorite “Miller Time” moment, a 1994 playoff game
between the Pacers and the

New York Knicks at

Madison

Square

Garden.
Miller scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of a Pacers win in Game 5 of the
Eastern Conference Finals.

“That’s
probably the one call I remember vividly,” Miller said. “‘And Miller for
another one – yes!”’

Albert
remembers it for another reason – the animated discussion on the sideline
between Miller and film director Spike Lee, a superfan of the Knicks. Albert
caught onto the conversation and brought the rivalry into the national
spotlight.

“We
ended up making a big deal about it because it was such a big part of what was
happening in the game,” Albert said. “He’d hit a shot, and you’d see the
body language back and forth between them during the game.

“For
myself, as a broadcaster, it doesn’t get any better than that, that it’s not
just a basketball game.”

Albert
said Miller has good relationships with coaches and players, so he heads into
games with good insight. Miller knows when to interject and is easy to work
with, Albert said.

Albert
also is impressed with Miller’s knowledge of the game.

“He
has a coach’s mentality in terms of Xs and Os,” Albert said.”There is nothing
that happens that will fool him.”

Miller is
a fan of Albert’s work as well.

“I’ve
always loved his witty approach to the game,” Miller said.”He’s going to meet
his match, because I’m just the same. I think it’s going to be a great fit.”

Miller
steps in for Steve Kerr, who is now general manager of the Phoenix Suns.

“I
really felt that Marv and Steve worked well together,” Miller said.”They had
great chemistry. That’s a little bit of pressure to come into.”

Albert
said Miller doesn’t have much to worry about.

“He’s
going to be great,” Albert said.

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