And Now for a Voice of Reason: Spike Lee Explains Reggie Miller

Film director and court-side New York Knick fan Spike Lee has a theory on why Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers set himself up for grief by calling the Knicks “choke artists.”

“He plays in a very small market, Indiana,” Lee told Newsday.

“For a long time, he hasn’t gotten that much pub. The series with the Knicks (last season) enabled him to show what he could do in front of a national audience.”

Lee said he couldn’t help but notice the timing of Miller’s outburst. The Pacer held his tongue until after he rallied Indiana to a Game 1 victory.

“Oh yeah,” Lee said. “He talks like this when the game is over. But when they were down in the game, he was quiet as a mouse.”

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Trivia time: In 1936, what did Nap Lajoie, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, Rogers Hornsby and Lefty Grove have in common?

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Garden memories: Sen. Bill Bradley, the former Knick, writing recently of his memories of playing in Boston Garden, soon to face the wrecking ball:

“We’d go up there on a spring afternoon for a playoff game, go into the locker room an hour before the game and it would be 110 degrees, with all the radiators running.

“And lo and behold, nobody could find the maintenance man to unlock the windows.”

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King Stu: At the recent Babe Ruth Conference at Hofstra University, former American League home run king Harmon Killebrew talked about the toughest pitchers he faced.

“Herb Score had great stuff,” he said. “Denny McLain, for a couple of years, had the best stuff I ever saw. Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in the ’65 World Series were two of the toughest I ever saw. . . .

“Oh, I forgot about Stu Miller. I think I had two hits in five years off him. If I’d had to face him every day of my career, I’d never have gotten out of Payette, Idaho.”

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Bring your checkbook: There’s a pro football tryout camp at El Camino College on Saturday, but even if you don’t make the cut it’ll cost you $110.

The camp, for players aspiring to connect with the NFL, CFL, Arena or World League, will be evaluated in drills, including the 40-yard sprint, vertical jump and bench press.

The $110 “evaluation camp fee” covers field, insurance, staff, video and results distribution costs, an official said.

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Listen up! Former slugger Dick Allen talked recently about his mother, Era Craine Allen, who died recently at 88.

He called her in 1963, he recalled, telling her of racial heckling in Little Rock, where he was a minor leaguer.

“I told her I wanted to come home,” said Allen, now 52.

“She said, ‘You put that phone close to your ear, boy, and listen to me. God gave you a talent. Don’t let them drive you out!’ ”

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Trivia answer: All failed to get enough votes in the first balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Admitted, in order of votes, were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. At the time, active players were eligible to be voted in.

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Quotebook: Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, on the toughest hitter he ever faced: “Tommy Henrich, no question. Henrich could hit me at midnight with the lights out.”