Sports Odds and Ends
If you want to see Cheryl Miller’s greatness, watch HBO Sports’ “The Women of Troy” documentary (2020). For many of us who knew about her way before the film, it serves both as a reminder and, to others, an introduction to just how great she was.
The documentary highlights USC’s 1980 women’s basketball team that featured Miller, Pam and Paula McGee, Cynthia Cooper, and their teammates, who established a standard for women’s college basketball that others have since followed. You can view it on MAX, HBO’s streaming service.
If it weren’t for a knee injury suffered during a pickup game, Miller’s name would be more well-known than it is. She never got to play pro ball overseas or in the WNBA when the league came in the late 1990s. But Miller made her mark in league history as the Phoenix Mercury’s first head coach and general manager and coached in the W’s second-ever finals.
Though she defers to being called it, Miller is 100% a legend.
“No, I don’t obviously talk about legacy because I’m still alive,” Miller said to an MSR question during the WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix.
She coached top rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark for the first time and was the winning coach of Team WNBA as they knocked off Team USA, also a team of all WNBA stars, on July 20.
“It’s a unique collaboration of the best players in the world,” Miller pointed out. “What coach on this planet wouldn’t want to be in that situation? Now, it’s my job to just stand back, roll out the ball, and be the cheerleader. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
The players, many of whom were not even alive when Miller starred in college, also had fun being coached by the 6’2” forward who dominated the college game, won two national titles, and was a four-time All-American who averaged a double-double (nearly 24 points and 12 rebounds) after dominating in high school in California.
Miller has been involved in basketball as a college and pro coach, a broadcaster, and a member of the 1999 inaugural Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame class. Her brother Reggie Miller joined his sister in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 after she was inducted in 1995.
“It is completely full circle, given the opportunity to coach these great players and be a part of it,” said Miller. “It’s amazing.”
Never bashful to speak her mind, Miller told a reporter who asked if there is a current player in college or in the WNBA that closely resembles her from her stellar playing days, “There’s a collection of me,” she said without pointing to a particular player or two.
Although Miller might not like the legacy tag, she fully embraces her current role as a mentor.
“I’m here to be of service,” concluded Miller.