Mike Miller (basketball player)

Michael "Mike" Lloyd Miller (born February 19, 1980) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association.^[1] A first round draft pick in 2000 from the University of Florida, Miller was selected 5th overall by the Orlando Magic. He has also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. In 2001 Miller was awarded Rookie of the Year.

Early career

Known for his ability to hit the three-pointer, he attended the University of Florida from 1998 until 2000. As a sophomore, Miller led the Gators to the 2000 NCAA Championship game, losing to Michigan State. He hit perhaps the most dramatic shot of the tournament that year in the opening round versus Butler. As the fifth-seeded Gators trailed by one to underdog Butler, Miller drove to the basket and laid it in as time expired. That summer, he was taken with the 5th overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. Miller won the 2001 NBA Rookie of the Year Award while being the only first-year player to appear in all 82 regular season games.

Memphis Grizzlies

He was traded to Memphis midway through 2002–03 NBA season. He was the recipient of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award for the 2005–06 season. He averaged 13.7 ppg 5.4 rpg 2.7 apg while shooting 47% from the field and 41% from three-point range, while playing 30.6 minutes per game.

On January 3, 2007 Miller made nine three-pointers in a win over the Golden State Warriors, breaking Sam Mack's Grizzlies' franchise record of eight in a game set in February 1999.^[2] The two previous games Miller hit seven threes.^[3] This made him the first NBA player to hit at least seven three-pointers in three consecutive games^[4] since the Dallas Mavericks' George McCloud achieved it in 1996.^[5]

He holds the Memphis Grizzlies franchise record for most points scored in a single game, with 45 on February 21, 2007, against the Golden State Warriors.^[6]

After the 2006–07 NBA season, Miller was announced as a member of the USA Basketball team.

Minnesota Timberwolves

On June 26, 2008, Miller, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins, and the 5th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, Kevin Love, were sent to Minnesota in exchange for Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner and the 3rd pick O. J. Mayo.^[7]

Washington Wizards

On June 23, 2009, Miller and Randy Foye were sent to the Washington Wizards for Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and a first round draft pick.^[8] Miller suffered a shoulder injury and missed a few games during the early part of the 2009–10 NBA season.

Miami Heat

On July 15, 2010, Miller signed a five year $25 million contract with the Miami Heat. He injured his thumb while trying to guard LeBron James during practice during the pre-season, sidelining him for several weeks.^[9][10] Miller officially returned to the Miami Heat lineup on December 20, 2010, in a home game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Personal life

Mike and his wife, Jen, have two sons named Mason and Mavrick.^[11] Miller is an avid lover of animals. He owns three dogs: a Weimaraner named Zeke and two Great Danes, Domino and Rookie. He also has an aquarium filled with exotic fish, and once owned a Java Macaque named Sonny. He often tells the story in which his monkey escaped from his room: "You would always put him in his room, and then we'd lock the door, and then we'd put the dogs out, and then we'd lock the front door. Well, he found out how to unlock doors, unlocked his door, went downstairs, let the dogs in the house and opened the front door. About an hour later we got a call from our neighbors, saying, 'Your monkey is riding your dogs around the neighborhood.'...I said, 'C'mon y'all, y'all got to get in the house."^[12][13]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- || 2000–01 || Orlando | 82 || 62 || 29.1 || .436 || .407 || .711 || 4.0 || 1.7 || .6 || .2 || 11.9 |- || 2001–02 || Orlando | 63 || 53 || 33.7 || .438 || .383 || .762 || 4.3 || 3.1 || .8 || .4 || 15.2 |- || 2002–03 || Orlando | 49 || 39 || 37.3 || .418 || .340 || .847 || 5.8 || 2.8 || .7 || .3 || 16.4 |- || 2002–03 || Memphis | 16 || 13 || 22.5 || .510 || .500 || .806 || 3.4 || 1.9 || .4 || .3 || 12.8 |- || 2003–04 || Memphis | 65 || 65 || 27.2 || .438 || .372 || .723 || 3.3 || 3.6 || .9 || .2 || 11.1 |- || 2004–05 || Memphis | 76 || 51 || 30.0 || .505 || .433 || .720 || 3.9 || 2.9 || .7 || .3 || 13.4 |- || 2005–06 || Memphis | 74 || 9 || 30.6 || .466 || .407 || .800 || 5.4 || 2.7 || .7 || .4 || 13.7 |- || 2006–07 || Memphis | 70 || 69 || 39.1 || .460 || .406 || .793 || 5.4 || 4.3 || .8 || .3 || 18.5 |- || 2007–08 || Memphis | 70 || 70 || 35.3 || .502 || .432 || .774 || 6.7 || 3.4 || .5 || .2 || 16.4 |- || 2008–09 || Minnesota | 73 || 47 || 32.3 || .482 || .378 || .732 || 6.6 || 4.5 || .4 || .4 || 9.9 |- || 2009–10 || Washington | 54 || 50 || 33.4 || .501 || .480 || .824 || 6.2 || 3.9 || .7 || .2 || 10.9 |- || Career || | 692 || 528 || 32.4 || .464 || .405 || .770 || 5.1 || 3.2 || .7 || .3 || 13.7 |}

Playoffs

|- || 2000–01 || Orlando | 4 || 4 || 28.0 || .396 || .389 || .750 || 4.5 || 1.8 || .0 || .8 || 12.0 |- || 2001–02 || Orlando | 4 || 1 || 18.0 || .333 || .125 || 1.000 || 1.3 || 1.3 || 1.0 || .0 || 4.8 |- || 2003–04 || Memphis | 4 || 4 || 24.5 || .353 || .385 || .333 || 3.0 || .8 || 1.2 || .0 || 7.5 |- || 2004–05 || Memphis | 4 || 4 || 27.5 || .486 || .471 || 1.000 || 2.5 || 2.8 || .0 || .8 || 12.0 |- || 2005–06 || Memphis | 4 || 1 || 26.8 || .400 || .125 || 1.000 || 3.8 || 1.8 || .5 || .5 || 8.5 |- || Career || | 20 || 14 || 25.0 || .400 || .344 || .875 || 3.0 || 1.7 || .6 || .4 || 9.0 |}

See also

• List of Florida Gators basketball players

References