Reggie Miller’s name is stamped in NBA history. He is not just a Hall of Famer but also someone who, at one time, held the record for most three-pointers made! Moreover, what made him stand apart from the rest was his ability to deliver clutch moments when it was needed the most. That’s exactly what made him a nightmare for defenders and a legend for fans. But if you were a Knicks supporter? You probably still flinch at the name. Back then, he earned the nickname “Knicks Killer,” and not by accident. His rivalry with Spike Lee? Let’s just say it was anything but friendly. And they are back at it again.

Nobody ever really gets the last word if the trash talk keeps going. Reggie Miller still talks trash, and Knicks fans still fire back like it’s 1994. The Knicks and Pacers revived their rivalry in the 2024 playoffs, not even mentioning the stunt Haliburton pulled recently. But the echoes of the ’90s battles still continue to show their shadows now and then.

Remember last year when Josh Hart joked on TNT, saying, “I think they’re saying ‘f*** you'”. Well, the Knicks forward was referring to the chants after their Game 2 Semifinals victory over the Pacers. While the beef between the teams may never stop, it seems Reggie Miller isn’t ready to let go of his beef with Lee either. Recently, Miller stirred the pot again, intentionally or not. The post was interesting, to say the least. An AI-generated image that showed Spike Lee sitting wearing the Pacers jersey! And the caption?

He wrote, “Yall need to QUIT all this AI stuff @officialspikelee.” But what’s interesting here? Miller has been openly against AI. Ouch. He previously said, “I’m not going to mess with it because it’s like playing God and creating machines that will eventually do things beyond our control”. With that in mind, the post might appear to some as Miller trying to reignite the beef.

Well, not if Spike Lee has anything to do with it. He recently addressed the chatter, saying, “Here’s the thing, already they are digging up stuff of me and Reggie Miller.” Lee then added, “I like to tell everybody, me and Reggie Miller, we’re cool.” For him, that era is long gone. “That stuff, how many years ago? It was 20 years ago. That’s been dead and buried.” Still, Lee knows how these things work. “People can try to stir up some stuff, I guarantee Reggie and I, we’re not going for that.” Sounds settled, right? But let’s be honest, some rivalries don’t die. They just lie low, waiting for the next spark.

From Reggie Miller’s choke sign to Haliburton’s echo

It all started with a gesture, one that lit a fire under the Knicks-Pacers rivalry for decades. Back in 1994, Reggie Miller scorched the Knicks with 25 fourth-quarter points and then turned to Spike Lee with a now-iconic “choke” sign. It locked in Reggie Miller as New York’s biggest villain. What started as courtside trash talk quickly turned personal, and his back-and-forth with Spike Lee became the stuff of legend.

Fast forward to Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, and the ghosts of that rivalry came roaring back. And this time, it was Tyrese Haliburton who did the taunting. He hit a wild jumper in the final moments of the game with his foot on the line. And he didn’t stop there! Haliburton flashed the same “choke” sign Reggie once did, mimicking the 1994 moment. Even though the basket only tied the game, not won it, the timing was hauntingly familiar. What’s made it more special was the fact that the Pacers had made a comeback from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter (only to win it in the OT)! Knicks fans were instantly reminded of their long-standing basketball trauma.

And who was in the building watching it all unfold? None other than Reggie Miller. Broadcasting the game for TNT, Miller couldn’t help but smile. Cameras caught him grinning, pointing at Haliburton, and then covering his mouth, clearly entertained by the déjà vu. Asked about the moment later, Miller didn’t hold back: “Little premature, but at the end of the day, they got the win,” he said. It was classic Reggie, poking the bear, just enough to make it interesting.

Haliburton himself felt the moment. After the game, he shared, “Yeah, after I finished my postgame interview, we locked eyes and had a little moment.” That exchange between past and present Pacers stars gave fans chills. Was it history repeating or just poetic timing?

Either way, one thing’s clear: when it comes to the Pacers and Knicks, the past never really stays in the past.