Reggie Miller made his mark in the NBA with his shooting and for being loquacious on the court. From his infamous disagreements with Spike Lee to his other on-court battles, Miller made a name for himself in the league for being one of the all-time great trash talkers.
Of course, his talking did get him into trouble on certain occasions. Like when he first went up against Michael Jordan as he told Jimmy Kimmel last night. Although it was a preseason game, Miller decided to offer up some choice words for Jordan. This didn't sit too well for Jordan, especially since Miller was a hot-shot rookie. Jordan responded appropriately by flipping the switch and scoring 44 points as Miller recalls.
Jordan then offered some advice to Miller.
So, he outscored me 40 to two. And as he’s walking off he’s like, “Be sure, and be careful that you never talk to Black Jesus like that. Okay?”
Jordan was never really referred to as "Black Jesus" as "Air Jordan" was his most used nickname. There were others like "MJ" and "His Airness" so it seems like "Black Jesus" was just something Jordan called himself. Quite a high compliment to give to yourself but the nickname was used before as the great Earl Monroe was once known as "Black Jesus" before getting the nickname "Pearl." So maybe Jordan was just copying's Monroe's nickname but chalk this up to another interesting tidbit in the legend of Michael Jordan.
Interestingly enough, Kimmel asks Miller if he ever talked trash to Jordan after that instance and Miller claims he never did but that seems to be a white lie because in 1993 the two once squared off during a game.
It seems like Miller did indeed talk inappropriately to "Black Jesus" again.
