PACERS

Lilly King's new normal: Hanging with Reggie Miller, Jesse Eisenberg

Jordan J Wilson
IndyStar
Former Pacer great Reggie Miller got to meet his Olympic hero Lilly King before the start of the Pacers game against the New York Knicks Monday, January 23, 2017, evening at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

INDIANAPOLIS — Lilly King had checked her phone one more time before lying down for a nap last week. The Rio Olympics star swimmer hardly expected to wake up to her phone buzzing with notifications.

It seemed even less real for the Indiana University  sensation when she saw why: Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller was reaching out to King over Twitter and Instagram, looking to get in touch with his “hero” and offer her tickets to Monday night’s New York Knicks-Indiana Pacers game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Bet you can guess how she answered.

“Being an Indiana girl and seeing that, it was all so cool,” King said before the game. “This is my first NBA game, period. This is it. I’m super excited. I mean, what a great first game, right?”

Miller respectfully declined to be interviewed, but he spoke in front of cameras alongside King in the TNT room prior to tipoff.

Miller was surprised to learn King, one of the state’s “cherished heroes,” had never been to a Pacers game and called out the team’s public relations staff in jest. He even used King’s signature finger wag, which she waved to condemn the doping by Russian world champion breaststroker Yulia Efimova in Rio, and, consequently, set off a powder keg that ignited her worldwide popularity.

King, who bested Efimova and won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, also helped the U.S. win gold in the 400 medley relay. She is one of the most popular — if not the most popular — American swimmer at the Olympics since Michael Phelps.

“I was watching the Olympics and everything was going on with what she was doing and stuff, and I was like, “That’s Cheryl. That’s Cheryl Miller,’” Miller told reporters as he stood next to King, wearing her Olympic gold medal. “Her demeanor and her confidence, I was like, 'That’s Cheryl all over.' I have to meet her.”

Cheryl Miller is Reggie's older sister and women's basketball pioneer.

King’s life has adjusted to a “new normal” since she stepped into the Olympic spotlight, but she acknowledged meeting Miller is a new high for out-of-the-blue happenings.

She also got to meet Academy Award-nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg — a devoted Hoosiers and Pacers fan — who also attended Monday’s game.

“It’s interesting to see how that’s not normal for other people, but it’s the new normal for me,” King said.

Follow IndyStar reporter Jordan J. Wilson on Twitter: @Wilsonable07. Email him at jordan.wilson@indystar.com.