After all these years the mention of Reggie Miller will still set a Knicks fan's blood to boiling. The bitter feud between the Knicks and the Pacers is the stuff of legends. Former Knicks point guard John Starks gives up the goods on whether he still hates Reggie Miller and some of ex-teammate Patrick Ewing's bizarre pre-game rituals.
The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers in the 90's were bitter rivals in the NBA. Year after year they would contend for supremacy in the Eastern Conference; even when the teams weren't doing that well, they at least wanted to top each other.
Already competitive, the feud between Indiana and the Knicks began in earnest in 1993's playoffs series (New York Daily News):
"Starks set the stage for the budding rivalry in Game 3, engaging in game-long trash-talk with Miller and earning an ejection for headbutting the Indiana guard during the Pacers' lone victory in the series...
"The current TV analyst constantly jawed with Spike Lee along Celebrity Row, including flashing the infamous choke sign gesture at the famed director and Knicks fan. The Daily News even ran a front-page story the next day with the banner headline 'Thanks a lot, Spike.'"
Though they've long since buried the hatchet, the sparks that flew between those two teams would become legendary.
While John Starks and Reggie Miller are cool, one thing that Starks remembers about the Knicks locker room was teammate Patrick Ewing's bizarre pre-game rituals including putting his shoes on the same way every time (via TMZ):
"Starks says one of the most bizarre pre-game rituals that Ewing refused to break was a NO-AUTOGRAPH policy until the game was over.
""You could be on your death bed, he still wouldn't sign autographs before the games,' Starks says.
"John -- who's now running a whole bunch of companies in his post-NBA career (including a pizza biz, shoe company and clothing line) -- says Ewing had other superstitions, one regarding his shoes."
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