“Been Kissed Harder Than That”: NBA Legend Blasts Soft Fouls

Working the announcers table for Game Five of the 2024-25 Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, NBA legend Reggie Miller saw a foul call be reviewed that he did not want to see reviewed. And he was unsubtly sarcastic about it.

Miller was a member of the Pacers from 1987 until 2005, and put together a Hall-of-Fame career, in part on account of his postseason battles against the Knicks. In his playing days, Miller expressly said he “hated” the Knicks, and his needle of their fanbase has continued long into his playing retirement. So when the two teams met in the Finals, Miller – working as an announcer for TNT, who were covering their last-ever NBA game – was an obvious choice to work the game.

Another thing Miller likes to be sarcastic about is the modern-day threshold for what constitutes a flagrant foul. Like almost all future players, or indeed like most men approaching the age of 60, everything was harder when they were young – or so they remember. Miller, like most players of his generation, seem to remember that a flagrant foul back in days gone by was only called if a limb was severed on the play, or at least something more akin to the foul committed by Tony Bradley in the image above. No surgery, no foul.

Whether that perception of 80s and 90s basketball (slightly embellished in this space) is correct, it is certainly prevalent. And Miller took umbrage with one particular play.

Pacers Received Review For Possible Flagrant

With the Pacers on a fast break, reserve forward Obi Toppin fed the ball ahead to a streaking Pascal Siakam, who had no Knicks defenders between him and the rim. The only one who could catch up to him, Miles McBride, had no choice but to wrap him up and stop the play with a foul.

McBride’s grab was a clear, obvious and deliberate foul, but not a dangerous one – while in FIBA basketball this would have been a clear “unsportsmanlike” play (the equivalent of a flagrant foul), the NBA generally permits such plays, as long as the foul is taken safely. This has long been the case, even before the advent of video replay.

Nonetheless, with the video at the disposal, the officials decided to take a look anyway. And Miller wasn’t having it.

https://x.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1928269410575262125

Perception Of Fouls In The NBA Today

The perceived over-officiousness of the NBA today has been a point of contention during these playoffs, in large part because of the play of the 2025 NBA Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard ranked second in the NBA in free throw attempts this season, regularly drawing opponents into slight contact that he then sells. It is a skill, one that others should learn – but it is not a popular one.

Of particular note were some fouls that Shai drew against Minnesota Timberwolves defenders in the first two games of their Western Conference Finals series. Some – such as one called on Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels, who was said to be going “absolutely insane” with frustration at the whistles, and whose frustration turned into a rather blatant shove – showed marginal or perhaps non-existent contact.