I Love Being the Enemy

Book excerpt: Reggie Miller on the New York Knicks: I'm telling you right now, I hate the Knicks. Absolutely hate those kids....Face it: The Knicks are dirty players. Let me take the back. They're not dirty players, but when things aren't going New York's way, they're going to do whatever it takes to win. And if that means hurting someone, then they'll do it. I'm not going to say that's dirty, but sometimes they take it to the extreme. On the mental side of the game: Everybody in the NBA knows how to play basketball or else they wouldn't be there. But what separates the good players from the great players is their mental capacity, not only to overcome their opponent, but to get through the tough spots...I always feel mentally stronger than any opponent I step on the same floor with. He might have more talent than I do, but I don't think anybody is mentally stronger than me. I'll match wills with anybody. On determination: On Cheryl Miller: "Cheryl, I got 39." "Reggie, that's great." "Yeah, so how'd you do?" "Uh, I got 105." Thing was, Cheryl didn't say it to be mean, But, damn, 105 points in one game? But I got my revenge a few years later... We got out to the court and shesaid, "Your ball." I told her she could have it first. So she kind of crouched down, made her usual strong first move, got right past me and put up the shot.Cheryl paused for a moment and then said, in a real serious tone, "We're going to play Hors