NBA Greats Detail Poker Game That Resulted In FightIndiana Pacers Card Game Gets Out Of Hand |
|
It’s no secret that professional athletes are prone to play some poker while on the road. Details recently emerged that one game featuring NBA legends Mark Jackson and Reggie Miller really got out of hand while they were members of the Indiana Pacers.
Larry Bird was the team’s coach at the time and an incident in the poker game eventually led to police being called and one player sustaining injuries.
“We were at the training camp at Disney Institute in Orlando, and we were playing cards late at night,” Jackson said on his podcast. “Something broke off in the middle of the card game with somebody that was a guest. Somebody ended up getting hurt – police were called. Next day Larry Bird calls Reggie and I in the office, he’s like, ‘I don’t know if you know, there was a card game in Dale Davis’ room last night.’ Reggie and I are like, ‘What?! Are you serious?’”
Avoiding Controversy
Miller and Jackson feigned ignorance of the situation, but of course knew what went down all along as they were at the card game. With some quick thinking, they avoided getting in trouble with the coach.
“‘You want us to talk to Dale? I mean, this is unacceptable that something like this would go on,’” Miller recalled telling his coach. “I was like, ‘coach, we’ll handle it.’ Then we walk out of the office and we’re like, ‘I told you they were going to find out.’”
Surprisingly, news of the incident never made it out to the media. Jackson said it wasn’t until about a week later that Bird realized Miller and Jackson were actually in the poker game.
Bird didn’t punish the two and both Miller praised him for that approach. They believed as a former player he understood the situation.
“Larry Bird was so great as a coach and as a person, he saw the comical side of us sitting there not ratting the whole story out,” Jackson said. “We were a tied-together team. We really had a blast playing with each other and for each other.”
Check out the entire story below.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
.jpg)