Cheryl And Reggie Miller: Everyday They Hustlin’

Reggie Miller will be the receiver of respect and adulation, as he was during his last NBA game, when he is enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight. Presenting Miller will be his sister, Cheryl, who is already a Hall of Famer for her hoops proficiency and skill in high school (Riverside Polytechnic) where she once scored 105 points in a game, and in college (USC).

How good was Cheryl Miller before that though? Below is a story of how she and Reggie would hustle kids on the playground as youths.

Back in the fifth and sixth grades, we’d go to the courts at John Adams Elementary or Hunt Park and hustle two-on-two games. We had it down to a science. It was the best hustle scam in Riverside, California.

I’d tell Cheryl to hide in the bushes, and then I’d go up to a couple of older kids and arrange a game. ‘You guys want to play?’ I’d said. ‘I’m by myself … unless you count my sister.

Then I’d whistle, and Cheryl would come out from behind the bushes looking like she didn’t know a thing about basketball. You could see the two other guys looking at each other like, ‘Oh, my God, this is going to be easy.

We’d play for ten dollars; the first team to 10 by ones would win the money. Then we’d get down, 5-0, double the bet, and then take care of business. I’d look at Cheryl, she’d look at me, we’d wink, and then … 10-5 us, and on our way to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal.

Simply awesome.

(H/T to ProBasketballTalk)