Former Pacer Reggie Miller Calls Indiana His ’Second Home’ as He Returns for NBA All-Star Weekend (Exclusive)

Miller will call Sunday's 2024 All-Star, featuring stars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry

Reggie Miller is returning to his "second home" for the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.

Miller, 58, spent 18 years playing for the Indiana Pacers and played in his first All-Star Game in Miami in 1990. This year, fresh off of a contract extension with TNT, the Pacers legend will call the 2024 All-Star Game on Sunday as stars like Stephen Curry and LeBron James face off on the court.

Miller tells PEOPLE, "First and foremost, Indiana is my second home. I tell people I'm an adopted Hoosier. And it's known for its basketball, so what better place to have an All-Star Game with the world's greatest players?"

"And I really can't wait to see the people because the people are really what drove me for my 18 years in Indiana. It was the fans and the relationships I built. So it'll be special from my standpoint to get a chance to go home and see them," he continues.

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He continues, "It doesn't matter about your physical skills if you're out there and if it's for two minutes or 25 minutes. If you give the effort, if you play hard, you play the right way, that's all they want to see."

A California native, Miller jokes that his only gripe with Indiana was acclimating to a colder climate. "But once I got used to that, I absolutely fell in love with Indiana because they reward hard work," he says.

Looking back on his years as an All-Star, Miller recalls, "It wasn't the spectacle it was today. I will say the games are a little bit different today."

Miller says the difference in games is "what excites me the most, from the standpoint I am now calling it, and it's a glorified pickup game." He explains, "It's like if you were going to the park and you get a chance to see your idols or greatest players play in such a fast-paced game. The dunks, the passes, I think that's what intrigues me really from both sides."

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"Most importantly, it's a showcase of the greatest athletes our game has and as a former player to make the team, you always want to be on the biggest stage with the best players," Miller continues, noting that "when you get selected, especially if it's your first time or LeBron — I think this is his 19th or 20th — you still get that excitement because you're having an opportunity to showcase your skills against the best players."

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton got his first All-Star nod, and Miller is looking forward to seeing him "in the confines of his own home" in Indiana. "He's the hometown boy and he's a hell of a player," says Miller.

Returning to Indiana is exciting on its own, but Miller is also looking forward to the honor of announcing the big game on Sunday, which airs live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. "I've been broadcasting probably for the last 20, 25, well, 30 years because that's all we would do on the bus," he recalls of his playing days.

"That's all you do when you get on the bus and there's three or four of us. Back there was myself, Mark Jackson, who was with ABC or 20-plus years. That's all we did back there, break down the game, talk about the game. That's all we've been doing," Miller says, adding, "So it was almost a natural fit for me to get paid for it, but have fun with it as well."

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