MIAMI -- Just when you think it's starting to turn for LeBron James, just when you think the jealousy and resentment are starting to die down, along comes Reggie Miller to remind us how foolish we are.
As the Heat head into Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Thursday night, Number 6 doesn't just have the limping, bleeding, desperate Knicks in his path.
He also must contend with this latest round of venom from another self-styled Guardian of the Game.
Miller, still taking his shots from long range, mocked LeBron this week for his lockout tour of a veritable Mount Olympus of NBA legends: Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas.
"This is the most physically gifted guy in our game," Miller said during TNT's telecast of Game 2. "Now you're reaching out to Hall of Famers to see what it takes? Enough is enough. Go out and actually do it on your own. What do you need more help for?"
Miller, who retired after 18 seasons with the same number of NBA titles as LeBron has, didn't stop there.
"I don't remember Michael Jordan, when he was getting his head beat in by the Bad Boys, calling someone and saying, 'How do I get by Detroit?'" Miller said. "I didn't see Isiah calling anyone when he couldn't get by the Boston Celtics. You figure it out and you go out and actually do it."
Apparently Reggie has been watching too many of those old Nike ads.
You know, the ones that never starred him.
Or maybe he just has his famous 25-point fourth quarter at the Garden playing on an endless loop in his head and that 18-year-old memory (along with Spike Lee's silly taunts) somehow clouds his judgment.
"I'm not faulting him," the newly elected Hall of Famer concluded. "What I'm saying is you're getting ready to be a three-time MVP ... (he) doesn't need help. Guys should be calling him instead of him going out and researching them."
Those who know LeBron best couldn't disagree more.
"That's weird," said Tony Fiorentino, the Heat TV analyst and former NBA assistant. "LeBron is humble enough to know he has to improve and he went to some of the great players for advice. Why would you criticize that? That doesn't make much sense to me."
Unless, Fiorentino joked, Miller was simply upset that LeBron "didn't go to him."
Heat swingman James Jones, who still considers Miller a mentor after spending his first two seasons as a Pacers teammate, was more magnanimous.
"Having been with Reggie and having learned from him," Jones said, "I take it as him saying, 'Hey, you have everything that you need. You don't need those guys. You're good enough. You have it all. Just go and do it. We know you can do it. You have the capability.' That's his approach."
LeBron himself was unaware of this latest rip job until I brought it to his attention after Wednesday's practice.
"It's just good to have someone else's perspective," he said of his offseason pilgrimage, "someone else's point of view during those times, during the playoffs, during their championship runs and just during their playing days in general."
He didn't seem too happy about Miller's diatribe when I quoted some of it back to him, but in his stone-faced playoff mode LeBron made it clear he wasn't going to get into a war of words either.
"Of course not," he said. "I'm here to play the game and focus on Game 3. First time I heard it. I don't listen. I don't watch it."
Is he good with Miller?
"I'm good with my family and my teammates," he said. "That's all that matters to me. I don't get involved in all that other stuff."
Which is smart because he can't win. He's learned that much by now.
And nothing, it seems, is going to change that anytime soon.
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