Reggie Miller leads Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2012

Sharpshooter Reggie Miller, disrespectfully snubbed a year ago, heads the 2012 Hall of Fame Class.

This year’s class was announced Monday in New Orleans, hours before the NCAA title game between Kentucky and Kansas. Other prominent new members are Don Nelson, Jamaal Wilkes and Ralph Sampson, all with ties to the Golden State Warriors.

Miller played his entire 18-year career with the Indiana Pacers, scoring 25,279 points. He somehow was overlooked last year, when the inductees included Chris Mullin – and Dennis Rodman.

“It’s a humbling experience, obviously,” Miller said at a news “To be part of this exclusive club is special. It’s a proud day for me. It’s special for me. I get a chance to join Cheryl, the first brother-sister act in the Hall of Fame. She was a role model.”

Miller’s sister, Cheryl, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995 for her exploits in women’s basketball.

Miller is 14th on the all-time scoring list and was the all-time leader in 3-pointers with 2,560 until he was surpassed late last season by Ray Allen.

The spindly shooting guard, now an analyst for TNT, is best known for his clutch postseason shooting. He scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of a Game Five victory at New York in the 1994 Eastern Conference finals and eight points in 8.9 seconds to lead a miraculous comeback in Game One of the 1995 conference semifinals, also at New York.

In Game Four of the 1998 conference finals, his buzzer-beater shot down the mighty Chicago Bulls and evened the series at two games each.

“Reggie’s career speaks for itself, but he ranks at the top with any player at making end-of-game shots,” Pacers president Larry Bird said. “I was fortunate enough to see it first-hand as a coach and his ability and leadership helped drive this franchise to another level.”

Miller was among five members elected by the North American Committee. Nelson, Sampson, Wilkes and referee Hank Nichols were the others.

Nelson is the all-time leader in coaching victories with 1,335 compiled with Milwaukee (1976-87), Golden State (1988-95 & 2006-10), New York (1995-96) and Dallas (1997-2005). His innovations included the point forward and Hack-a-Shaq and is one of just two coaches to win Coach of the Year three times.

Sampson probably could have been elected merely on his accomplishments at University of Virginia, where he was a three-time Naismith Award winner as Player of the Year. He was the top overall pick in the 1983 draft by Houston, won the 1984 Rookie of the Year award and twice made the All-Star team.

The 7-4 Sampson’s NBA career was limited by injuries. In 456 games with Houston, Golden State, Sacramento and Washington, he averaged 15.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He helped the Rockets reach the 1986 NBA Finals.

Wilkes won two championships and one All-America honor at UCLA before being taken 11th overall in the 1974 draft by Golden State. He was Rookie of the Year in 1975 as he helped the Warriors win the championship and was named an All-Star the following year.

In 1977, he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he received two All-Star berths and helped win three titles over the next eight years. In 12 years with the Warriors, Lakers and LA Clippers, he averaged 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds over 828 games.

Former Pacer Mel Daniels was elected from the ABA Committee. He was a Rookie of the Year, two-time ABA MVP and is the ABA’s fourth-leading scorer and all-time leading rebounder. He also was Western Athletic Conference MVP at New Mexico in 1967.

“I’m honored because I’m the second Indiana Pacer behind the No. 1 Pacer (Daniels),” said Miller.

Chet Walker was elected from the Veterans Committee. Walker missed just 21 games in a 13-year career that included seven All-Star berths with the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls. He was a starting forward on the 1966-67 76ers, regarded as one of the greatest teams of all time.

Don Barksdale was elected from the Early African-American Pioneers Committee. He was the first African-American player to win NCAA All-America honors, earn an Olympic gold medal and receive an NBA All-Star Game berth.

The Women’s Committee elected two-time Olympic gold medalist Katrina McClain and the All-American Red Heads, a pro barnstorming team that played for six decades.

Nike CEO Phil Knight was elected from the Contributor Committee and Russian coach Lidia Alexeeva was elected from the International Committee.

Sources: http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2012/04/02/reggie-miller-gets-the-call-from-the-hall/

Reginald Wayne "Reggie" Miller (born August 24, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-point field goal shooting, especially in clutch situations and most notably against the New York Knicks for which he earned the nickname "Knick Killer".[1][2][3] When he retired, he held the record for most career 3-point field goals made. He is currently second on the list behind Ray Allen. A five-time All-Star selection, he led the league in free throw accuracy five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Miller is one of five Pacers to have his jersey (#31) retired by the team (the others are Roger Brown, Mel Daniels, Bobby "Slick" Leonard and George McGinnis). Miller was also selected for the Pacers' 40th anniversary team in 2007.[4] Currently, he works as an NBA commentator for TNT.

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Reggie Miller Statistics

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1987-88	22	IND	NBA	82	1	1840	306	627	.488	61	172	.355	149	186	.801	95	95	190	132	53	19	101	157	822
1988-89	23	IND	NBA	74	70	2536	398	831	.479	98	244	.402	287	340	.844	73	219	292	227	93	29	143	170	1181
1989-90	24	IND	NBA	82	82	3192	661	1287	.514	150	362	.414	544	627	.868	95	200	295	311	110	18	222	175	2016
1990-91	25	IND	NBA	82	82	2972	596	1164	.512	112	322	.348	551	600	.918	81	200	281	331	109	13	163	165	1855
1991-92	26	IND	NBA	82	82	3120	562	1121	.501	129	341	.378	442	515	.858	82	236	318	314	105	26	157	210	1695
1992-93	27	IND	NBA	82	82	2954	571	1193	.479	167	419	.399	427	485	.880	67	191	258	262	120	26	145	182	1736
1993-94	28	IND	NBA	79	79	2638	524	1042	.503	123	292	.421	403	444	.908	30	182	212	248	119	24	175	193	1574
1994-95	29	IND	NBA	81	81	2665	505	1092	.462	195	470	.415	383	427	.897	30	180	210	242	98	16	151	157	1588
1995-96	30	IND	NBA	76	76	2621	504	1066	.473	168	410	.410	430	498	.863	38	176	214	253	77	13	189	175	1606
1996-97	31	IND	NBA	81	81	2966	552	1244	.444	229	536	.427	418	475	.880	53	233	286	273	75	25	166	172	1751
1997-98	32	IND	NBA	81	81	2795	516	1081	.477	164	382	.429	382	440	.868	46	186	232	171	78	11	128	148	1578
1998-99	33	IND	NBA	50	50	1787	294	671	.438	106	275	.385	226	247	.915	25	110	135	112	37	9	76	101	920
1999-00	34	IND	NBA	81	81	2987	466	1041	.448	165	404	.408	373	406	.919	50	189	239	187	85	25	129	126	1470
2000-01	35	IND	NBA	81	81	3181	517	1176	.440	170	464	.366	323	348	.928	38	247	285	260	81	15	133	162	1527
2001-02	36	IND	NBA	79	79	2889	414	913	.453	180	443	.406	296	325	.911	23	196	219	253	88	10	120	143	1304
2002-03	37	IND	NBA	70	70	2117	281	637	.441	113	318	.355	207	230	.900	21	151	172	170	62	4	66	89	882
2003-04	38	IND	NBA	80	80	2254	260	594	.438	134	334	.401	146	165	.885	18	170	188	249	65	11	68	96	800
2004-05	39	IND	NBA	66	66	2105	314	719	.437	96	298	.322	250	268	.933	18	138	156	146	50	5	77	109	974
Career			NBA	1389	1304	47619	8241	17499	.471	2560	6486	.395	6237	7026	.888	883	3299	4182	4141	1505	299	2409	2730	25279