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Miller's Moment

You can never have enough veteran leadership – players that can be an extension of the coach on the floor or a mentor in the locker room. Guys that are willing to do whatever the team needs and set an example for younger players to follow.

Mike Miller is the epitome of that for the Denver Nuggets.

Recently, he came to a shootaround to meet and watch some of the young players compete.

He’s been about two things this summer – his kids and basketball.

“I’ve just been chasing my kids around, just getting back into the swing of things and working out,” Miller told Nuggets.com. “Daddy duty and basketball, that’s pretty much my life.”

Miller got an opportunity to talk to rookies Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley, and Juancho Hernangomez. He left impressed not only with their play, but with their maturity levels.

“[They’re] young, mature kids, which is hard to find. They’re young in age but mature in the way they play, mature in the way they act. That’s really the way you win with young teams.”

Good culture within a team takes time to build and it requires bringing in the right type of players and veterans to cultivate. Miller has always been willing to do whatever the coaching staff asks of him. It’s just part of what was engrained in him early on in his basketball career.

“I’m going to do whatever [the coaches] want,” Miller told Nuggets.com. “I’m going to do things the same way I did last year. I’m going to practice hard every day. If they ask me to play a lot of minutes, I’ll play a lot of minutes. If they ask me to play little minutes, I’m going to play little minutes. I was raised in basketball to be a good teammate and that doesn’t change when you’re playing or not playing. On the coaching side, players can help too. I’m going to do whatever I can.”

More than anything, Miller sees big things to come in the Nuggets’ future.

“[I’m excited] about the culture building that’s going on,” Miller says. “Just seeing what the front office and ownership, coaching staff are doing and the young players that developed last year. I got a kick out of it and a lot of excitement out of seeing our team towards the end playing some good basketball. I wanted to be a part of that.”

Over a career where he’s averaged double-digits and shot over 40% from long distance, Miller has personally accomplished much. He’s won a Rookie of the Year award, he’s been the Sixth Man of the Year, and he’s a two-time NBA champion. Miller’s been through it all. Now, he’s a respected leader on a team where most of the roster is almost a decade younger and hungry to get better.

When asked about his favorite moment from last season, Miller couldn’t exactly pick one. Instead, he talked about the joy of seeing the young players improve.

“To me, my favorite moments are the collection of everything. People sometimes overlook the process,” Miller explains. “The process is always hard but the process is what makes it fun as well. My favorite moments are the collection of processes. Players like The Joker [Nikola Jokić] got better, Will Barton got better, Gary Harris got better, Emmanuel [Mudiay] got better. To see that core group of young talent get better, that is the best part of all of it.”

Ultimately, Miller just wants to see the Nuggets continue to succeed and continue to grow. He chose to stay in Denver because of the bright future he sees and the desire to contribute to building something from the ground up. Miller had two things he wanted to express to Nuggets fans: gratitude and excitement.

“First and foremost, thank you for giving us the opportunity and allowing us to be basketball players in your city. Secondly, I hope you’re excited about what we’re doing and the commitment to what we’re doing in our city. This organization is committed to winning. I think you’ll see huge strides this year.

“It’s right around the corner. It’s coming.”

This past year was Miller’s 17th season in the league and he’s played over 1,000 games up to this point. But he’s not done yet.

In fact, he’s just getting started.

Welcome back, Mike Miller.