Oliver Miller twice led the SEC in blocks while at Arkansas. (Getty Images)
Oliver Miller, a big man who played for six teams in an NBA career that spanned nine seasons, has died, the National Basketball Retired Players Association confirmed Wednesday. He was 54 years old.
Phoenix Suns broadcaster Eddie Johnson first reported Miller’s death.
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Arkansas later posted its own statement of mourning.
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A Fort Worth, Texas native, Miller was selected 22nd overall in the 1992 NBA Draft after four years at Arkansas. Playing under Naismith Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson and alongside fellow first-rounders Todd Day and Lee Mayberry, he helped begin a golden age of Razorbacks basketball, leading the program to three straight SEC regular season and tournament titles and the 1990 Final Four.
As an NBA player, Miller played for the Suns, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He was a rookie on the 1992-93 Suns team that reached the NBA Finals and ran into Michael Jordan.
The 6-foot-9 Miller was listed at 280 pounds and weighed more later in his career, but he also displayed a feel for the game that made him more than a typical ’90s center.
Miller left the NBA in 2000 and played in leagues in Poland, Puerto Rico and China as well as smaller U.S.-based leagues for four years, but returned in 2003-04 for one last stint with the Timberwolves, averaging 10.5 minutes per game as a 33-year-old.
In retirement, Miller encountered legal troubles. He was sentenced to a year in jail in 2012 for first-degree assault and possession of a handgun after allegedly pistol-whipping his girlfriend’s brother at a barbecue in Maryland.
Miller was later reported to be living in Phoenix in 2020, living comfortably on his NBA pension and spending time with his grandchildren.
