Coming from a basketball family, former UCLA Bruin Reggie Miller always had that competitive fire in him. For a long time, he held the record for the second-most three-pointers with 2,560. This was until Ray Allen and Stephen Curry claimed the top spots. The slender 6-foot-7, 190-pound former player is a 5 X NBA All-Star and a 1994 FIBA champion. One might think he had the healthiest diet and work ethic to maintain his game and he did. But he only broke it before the crucial moments such as his games. And he has a good reason for it.
For most NBA players, odd pre-game traditions are common. For instance, Dwyane Wade had one of the strangest, likely inspired by Vince Carter, where he jumped up and touched the rim before games. Miller, too, had a bizarre ritual. He revealed that he used to eat pasta before his games.
“Before a game? Pasta Because you need the carbohydrates. So some penne pasta. Alfredo sauce with a little chicken in it,” he said on The Earliest Show. When asked about if the Alfredo sauce affected him anyway, he simple said, “Need that because when you’re like farting on the court it kind of …(likely helped him).”
This one is quite shocking, as athletes don’t usually opt for an unhealthy meal. And that too before the games. He believed that it only helped him. Even the show’s hosts, Josh and Samantha, were shocked to learn about it.
Well, this wasn’t the only unusual ritual he followed. There was also one beverage that he always drank before games along with a few more personal rules.
Reggie Miller’s odd pregame rules!
One might remember that Miller used to arrive at the games in his usual long-sleeved shirt with the cuffs cut off. He used to even walk through particular doors and hallways. That is the length some players take to win after all. There’s more to this.
Just about eight minutes before tip-off, the retired NBA player used to always meet the Indiana Pacers‘ media relations director, David Benner. Benner then handed him either a Pepsi or a Sprite. While it might sound simple, this was far more important than that. If the Pacers lost the previous game, he would drink Sprite and if they had won the game, he would drink Pepsi.
So it was Pepsi, pasta, and other strange traditions that Miller followed. No wonder, the Indiana Pacers legend was unstoppable during his playing days. He was the first Indiana Pacers player to get a chance in the NBA All-Star Game since Don Buse and Billy Knight in 1977. In Miller’s presence, the Indiana Pacers made it to the playoffs in 1990 for the first time. However, they were defeated by the Detroit Pistons. This tricks might sound odd and helpful, but it was ultimately Miller’s spectacular skills that led the Pacers.
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