No, he’s not that desperate.
NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller told Dan Patrick this week that he would trade both of his pinky fingers in exchange for two NBA championship rings.
“I hate pinkies,” the former Pacers star said on the “Dan Patrick Show.”
“So would I give up two pinkies for two rings? I think I would. … I would give them up in a heartbeat.”
Miller added that even without the outermost digits, he would still be a prolific shooter, since the ball is propelled by the tips of his other fingers. No wonder he’s willing to part ways with his pinkies.
Miller’s Pacers made the playoffs in 15 of his 18 seasons, but they never won an NBA title. They reached the NBA Finals in 2000 but lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers. Miller and the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals five other times in his career (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004), but they couldn’t get over the hump.
The toughest defeat, Miller said, was the Game 7 loss to Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals, which is what led to Patrick asking how far Miller would be willing to go to have a ring.
While chopping off one’s pinkies would not magically make an NBA championship ring appear, Miller isn’t the first to consider what body parts he would slice off in order to reach the pinnacle. Before the 2019 NFL season, Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel said — perhaps jokingly — on the “Pardon My Take” podcast that he would cut off his penis to guarantee a Titans Super Bowl victory.
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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