Difficult to lead a career as a professional sportsman when you are a big gourmet and play Yoyo with the scale: 2m06… 150 kg! “This boy has no place in the NBA. Players who are such big and fat would be a shame for our league. »»Thus is expressed Jerry West, the GM of the Lakers, a few days before the 1992 draft when he talks about the case of Oliver Miller, a heavyweight of the University of Arkansas. This March 13, we learned of the death of Olivier Miller, as a result of cancer.
In 1993, the Suns received the Lakers for a fifth decisive match in the first round of the Playoffs (the series then played at the best of the five rounds). Worse, we are in overtuders. Oliver Miller, Rookie in Phoenix, was not specially in sight during the confrontation. He will not choose another moment to savor his revenge. Nine points, five rebounds and one against 5 minutes. With his friends, Oliver sends the Lakers on vacation. Jerry West will not comment, too busy biting your nails. With his 17 points, 14 rebounds and 7 counters on the whole match, Miller had the last word. “Since my agent had brought me this story, I had a few accounts to settle. I think it's done. »»
“Big O”, as it is now called with respect, will not stop there. Against San Antonio and Seattle, during the following rounds, he reproduces his “intimidator” performances. Jerry West was a virulent detractor but he had not been the only one to neglect Oliver Miller. Several connoisseurs had pout and the deadlock on the guy. Why this rejection? Beginning of explanation.
Charles Barkley takes him under his wing
May 1992. Oliver Miller enrolled in the Draft. His latest university season with the Razorbacks was not staggering. For a long time, he was disrupted by a nasty sprain. Second handicap: 150 kg for 2.06 m, it's a bit plump. And the praises of his coach, Nolan Richardson, do not change anything. “I always thought that Oliver was an ideal player. By losing weight, he will be able to express all his qualities, amazing for a large one. He knows the game, he feels it. And he has good hands. »»
Forget this weight problem. With the twenty-second choice of the 1992 draft, the Suns take the bet. Richardson approves Miller's recruitment. “You and the fans go to love it”he lets go to Paul Westphal, the Phoenix coach (today in Sacramento).
October 1992. Beginning of the Camp Training. By his bulimia and his good humor, Oliver charms his entourage. Charles Barkley takes him under his wing. We ironize: rumor says that the Suns hired Miller to allow “Sir Charles” to feel less big … on the ground too, “Big O” seduces. His very long arms and his timing make him a promising defender and rebounder. His skiller qualities are also undeniable. “In high school, I was called Big Magic. I was watching Magic Johnson on TV then I was going to play on the house wall with a tennis ball. I was trying to reproduce her passes ”recalls Oliver, a big fan of the Californian magician.
The only real problem is always the same: its weight. But his attitude is impeccable. He accepts monitoring of the SUNS physical trainer during meals. The 1992-93 season begins. Miller alternates the good and the very average. The cause of his irregularity? Always and again this overweight. Despite its efforts, the balance of the balance does not drop. Raised “normally” to Fort Worth, Texas, Oliver has never deprived of food, even if he declares that he does not understand the reasons for his obesity. Ah, the good little dishes of mom … In January, the Suns are getting impatient. The diets give nothing. Barkley, who knows a radius in terms of extra pounds, remembers: “We helped him. A lot. The leaders became pressing. Oliver has never abandoned and he even used the big means. I am proud of him. His success somehow rewards my talents as a psychologist… ”
Supported by his partners, Miller is placed on the injured list … in order to enter the hospital. For fifteen days, it is nourished under infusion. Only outing: daily specific training. 1,500 calories per day and nothing to do, otherwise watch TV… and all the food ads! Draconian and terribly effective. Twenty-five kilos less. Oliver leaves the hosto completely transformed in terms of sensations and convinced of the benefits of the treatment. “It was weird … I felt like I was moving easily. »»
Since then, the scale has not moved. Thank you who? “The whole team was important but it is especially Charles that I thank. He helped me throughout the year, on all levels. It was natural to listen to him knowing that he had known the same situation. It was a bit of my model. »»
What does “Sir Charles” think? “I must not say too much of him, otherwise he will become a bigger star than me …”drops the 1993 MVP, delighted with its effect.
The Playoffs have given birth to a new ambition at Miller: win titles. “Playing an NBA final from your first year in the League is extraordinary!” It makes you want to go back. And it's a better habit than sweets, isn't it… ”
Short wider than those of Zion Williamson and Nikola Jokic gathered
Everyone tells himself that Oliver has many years ahead of him. Large years, of course. Short, Miller spends a lot of time with the other Rookie de Phoenix, Richard Dumas (see “Richard Dumas, Coke in stock”). To each his addiction: food for one, cocaine for the other. A small weakness that will lose them.
The day after a second season at 9.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 counters, the n ° 25 of the Suns was released. The medical staff despairs of keeping it at a reasonable weight. Nothing to do, “Big O” is addicted to the McDo. He will have a sort of a career on this image of a heavy pivot. It is not very mobile but takes the place of the racket … and that's it already. In September 1994, Detroit recovered a free player.
The following spring, Miller was retained by Toronto, a newly created franchise, as part of the Draft expansion. It was in Canada that he will sign his best NBA season in 1995-96 (12.9 pts, 7.4 RBDS, 1.4 int, 1.9 ct on 76 matches including 72 as a starter). Cut by the Raptors, he stayed a year in Dallas, returned to Toronto and then crossed the Atlantic to discover the Greek championship (Iraqi). Back in the USA after the 1998 lockout, he tasted Californian cuisine (4 matches under the colors of Sacramento). Phoenix offers him a new chance, without significant results (51 matches and 6.3 pts in 1999-2000).
Viré des Globetrotters
You have to fill your stomach well … So Oliver gets a freelance for the Harlem Globetrotters and the Polish Pruszkow club. Guilty of taking some liberties at the restaurant, “Big O” succeeds in being fired from the globetrotters at the end of 2001 … The press release is lapidary: “Oliver has no idea what asks, in terms of mental and physical preparation asks for being a Harlem Globetrotter”.
Miller is toasted in the middle. He takes what we give him. We see it in Italy in 2002 (Roseto). Back to the USA. “Big O” becomes a vagabond basketball player. He skims the minor leagues (CBA, UBA, USBL), made a flash passage to the Pacers in October 2002 before being offered a fold -in -law to the Timberwolves in December 2003. Completely unexpected. With the Sam Cassell-Latrell Sprewell-Kevin Garnett trio, Minnesota is a hit. Inside, Michael Olowokandi, Ervin Johnson and Mark Madsen compete in mediocrity. The first is limited to 43 matches. Here is Miller hired by a team in full ascent. He finds it difficult to move his 143 kg in the racket but still obtains 10 minutes of play on average (2.5 pts). He even contested his fourth playoff campaign. Historical Postseason which sees the Wolves pass the first round for the first time in history, after seven consecutive failures. Eight matches in total to Oliver.
Thanks the following summer, the Journeyman pivot bounces to Porto-Rico before serving the Dakota Wizards (CBA), the Texas Tycoons (ABA) then the Arkansas Rimrockers (ABA). No doubt you have never heard of the first basketball League, a championship which brings together eight teams playing in the United States, Canada and Porto-Rico. The Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry (Oklahoma) is one of them. The room, the Great Plains Coliseum, can accommodate 3,000 people. This is where in March 2009, Oliver continued his journey, at 39 years old.
A passage through the “prison” box
The continuation was unfortunately even less glorious since “Big O” kicked a cable in 2011 during a barbecue by threatening a guest with a weapon! Judged after pleading guilty in 2012, he served a sentence of five years of probation, and he finally decided to return to Arizona where he became a car seller.
There, in 2016, he entered the Hall of Fame of the University of Arkansas Sports, before being selected a few months later from the “Basketball Legends” of the SEC. Two distinctions that are added to those obtained in the minor leagues as a member of the second team in 2003, a selection for the All-Star Game of the CBA in 2003, but also the champion of the ABA at his home, in 2005, with the Rimrockers of Arkansas. Not sure that it was the dream that the Razorback was pursuing at the time of college …
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