Reggie Miller Is Still Getting Job Offers

Reggie Miller was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show today, and Patrick opened the interview by asking Miller if he had any interest in joining the Lakers this season, passing along an invitation Kobe Bryant jokingly extended as he was being interviewed a few minutes earlier.

Miller declined, but in the course of doing so let slip out the the Celtics and Cavaliers have already tried to coax him out of retirement earlier this season. You can listen to the whole interview here, but a transcription of the pertinent parts appears below the jump.

Reggie Miller: [Joining the Lakers would be] very tempting, I have to admit. That would be very tempting. But, I cannot be a bandwagoner, can't be a bandwagoner. These guys, they are, what, 39 and eight. They've done all the heavy lifting already. I'm a kind of guy that likes to pull my own weight and I would feel like I would be coming in and just, you know, basically, jumping on the bandwagon trying to win a ring and that's just not me.
[...]
Dan Patrick: If the Lakers had called in the beginning of this year ...
Reggie Miller: It still probably would have been a no. Because, Boston had called again, too.

Dan Patrick: They did call?
Reggie Miller: Yes.

Dan Patrick: Who else called?
Reggie Miller: [Laughter] Here you go trying to get me in trouble!

Dan Patrick: OK, who else called?
Reggie Miller: I'm not going to say. But I will say they're in the top four of the records.
[ ...]
Dan Patrick: LeBron called you?
Reggie Miller: [Laughter] I'm not saying! No, I'm just saying, this is what I'm saying, Daniel. If you look at these teams in the NBA in general, what is the one thing that most players cannot do?

Dan Patrick: Shoot.
Reggie Miller: They can't spread the floor. Yes, shoot. They can't spread the floor. The last thing to always leave a shooter is your shot. And I just always tell people, "But I have to go down to the other end, that's the problem!"

Dan Patrick: So this Thursday you have the Cavs and Orlando. So when LeBron sees he, will he go, "Hey, bro, come on, the invitation's still there."
Reggie Miller: Um, yes, it is still there, I'm sure, especially with Delonte West being out another three, four weeks, that's another shooter. But they have great shooters, Sasha, Mo Williams, Boobie Gibson ...

So there it is: Reggie Miller introduced and dismissed rumors of his comeback in one fell swoop. Talk about convenient -- if only guys like Allan Houston could follow his example, basketball bloggers everywhere wouldn't be plagued with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Usually these types of rumors pop up when a player retired too early, but Miller hardly left before his time -- he played 18 long seasons and was 39 years old when he retired in 2004-05. And while he could undoubtedly out-shoot 99 percent of the players still in the league, I'm confused why any general manager thinks he could actually contribute on both ends of the floor and still be productive at 43.