Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson chat Larry Bird coaching stories during time with Indiana Pacers

On a recent episode of the Come And Talk 2 Me podcast, former Indiana Pacers guards Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson discussed some of their experiences together with the Pacers franchise.

Jackson and Miller shared a backcourt in Indianapolis from 1995-2000. They teamed up on some of the best Pacers teams ever — they were one game from the NBA Finals in 1998 and made it in 2000.

Their coach in the 1998-2000 seasons was Larry Bird, the legendary player who turned into a coach, then an executive. Bird won coach of the year in 1998 and was largely successful guiding the Pacers with his unique style.

Miller and Jackson recalled a game in which the two had a memorable interaction with Bird. “We were in the layup line, and Reg and I, as captains of the team, we had to go back and talk to Larry Bird before the game,” Jackson began. He couldn’t remember what they needed to bother the coach about, but the two jogged off the court and into the back of the arena.

From there, Miller took over the story. “Jack and I, we go back to the locker room and we’re like, ‘where’s coach Bird?’. The pair was told that their coach was in his office, so they went to check and he wasn’t there. Slick Leonard, a former coach for the Pacers who was a broadcaster at the time, suggested to the players that Bird might be in the area where the showers are.

“We head back to the shower because we had to ask him this question,” Miller continued. “Before we got out there, go around the corner. Larry Legend is sitting in a chair, he’s got a pack of Newports. He’s just smoking away.”

“What do you guys need?” Bird said, per Miller’s recollection.

The two former players never explained where the story went from there, only saying that the sight affected their play that night in the game. Neither Jackson or Miller ever brought it up to Bird. The entire podcast episode can be found here, with this story coming late in the episode.