Brad Miller

Things began getting really big in the junior year and Miller averaging 8.3 rebounds and 14.3 points per game, became the main-stay for the Boilermakers. The team finished second in the conference and again reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Miller became the first center in the history of the University to lead the team in assists. However, all this was just a trailer before the big show.

Miller turned it on in his senior year in college, scoring at 17.2 points per game with 8.8 rebounds. He led Purdue to the Sweet Sixteen stage of the NCAA Tournament and his 6 steals against the University of Delaware became a school tournament record. The Big Ten conference title was shared between Michigan State University and Purdue after Miller scored 30 points and grabbed 12 boards to lead his team to a final day win against Michigan State.

Miller ended his career as only the fourth Boilermaker to have more than 800 rebounds against his name. He, however, became the only player in the history of the school to have 1,500 points, 800 rebounds and 250 assists.

At the time Miller was supposed to join the NBA, the Lockout happened and he was forced to look to Europe, and Bini Viaggi Livorno in Italy, to begin his basketball career. He played with the team for three months before returning to the USA and signing as a free agent for the Charlotte Hornets.

Playing just 38 games in his first season, Miller scored at 6.3 points per game and had 3.1 rebounds per game, no mean feat considering that he just played 12.3 minutes per game. He saw action in 55 games in his second season, scoring at 7.7 points and grabbing 5.3 rebounds in the 17.5 minutes he got to play. After just two seasons, he decided to turn free agent and signed with the Chicago Bulls.

Miller got more minutes on court and it showed in his performance as well. He raised his scoring to 8.9 points per game in 2000-01 and then to 12.7 per game in the following season. His rebounds per game rose to 7.4 in 2000-01 and then to 8.4 in the next season. In January of 2002, Miller was involved in an on-court altercation with Shaquille O’Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers. Miller committed a hard foul on O’Neal, who took a swipe at Miller’s head as he was walking away. Miller went on to take off his shirt and challenge O’Neal to a fist fight, stopped only due to the intervention of the officials and teammates.

In the middle of the 2001-02 season, Miller was on his way to the Indiana Pacers, along with Ron Mercer, Ron Artest and Kevin Ollie, in exchange for Jalen Rose, Norman Richardson and Travis Best, along with a second-round draft pick. He played the remaining 28 games of the 2001-02 with the Pacers, scoring at 15.1 points per game and grabbing 7.9 rebounds per game.

The following year, Miller got his first full season with the pacers and went on to play exceptionally well to earn his place on the NBA All-Star Team. He played 73 games in regular season, scoring at 13.1 points per game and grabbing 8.3 rebounds per game. He also had 2.6 assists per game, a stat that was quite prevalent throughout his playing career despite the position Miller played in. Along with Ben Wallace, Miller became the first undrafted players to make the All-Star game.

At the end of the season, Scot Pollard came to the Pacers from the Sacramento Kings and Miller was sent out to the Kings. This came despite Miller signing a multi-year deal with the Pacers before the start of the season. Miller came out publicly and said that his agent had advised him on the trade, despite wanting to stay in Indiana, as the money was just too good to refuse.

Miller averaged 14.1 points per game and had a career-high 10.1 rebounds with 1.2 blocks per game, another career-high. Miller’s appearances dropped to just 56 in his second season and maybe that was the reason for his high numbers. He scored at a career-high 15.6 points per game with 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks, both career-highs. He had 9.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game as well.

In 2005-06, Miller became the first center since Sam Lacey to record back-to-back double-doubles in points and assists. Miller scored at 15 points per game with a career-high 4.7 assists per game and 7.8 rebounds per game, starting all 79 games he played that season.

The following season, Miller had a big dip in form, scoring at just 9 points per game with 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He worked hard to improve his game and it clearly showed as he notched up 13.1 points per game in 2007-08, with 9.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, while averaging 1 per game in both steals and blocks. In his final season at Sacramento, Miller was traded out, after just 43 games, to the Chicago Bulls. He was averaging 11.9 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game at the time of the trade.

Miller was used as a veteran player in the Bulls team and added depth, along with Joakim Noah, to the Bulls’ roster as they made the 2009 NBA Playoffs on the back of his 11.8 points average in 27 games. Miller’s big performance came against the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the series when, with a busted lip and seven stitches, Miller poster 23 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 8 for 9 from the floor.

At the international level, Miller has been a part of the US National Team since the 1998 FIBA World Championships. This was mainly due to the lockout that meant that there weren’t any NBA players to take up places in the roster. The team went on to win the Bronze Medal at the championships. Miller was again named to the team for the 2006 FIBA World Championships however, this time the team had players like Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. Despite the hype, the team only managed a second Bronze Medal for Miller, a tournament in which he barely played.