Mike Miller not talking retirement

Skinny is 37 years old now. There are wrinkles around the eyes when he smiles that weren’t there 10 years ago but the youthful spirit you saw from the kid who was a freshman starter at Mitchell High School is still there.

Mike Miller made his annual visit to the Hy Vee/Sanford Legends basketball clinic at the Pentagon on Saturday morning talking like retirement would not be considered anytime soon. If an NBA team has a job for him, he’s got 17 years of experience and a still-marketable 3-ball for them. That’s how it is going work.

“For me, it’s just a lot of fun – I enjoy playing,” Miller said. “I always will. My family still enjoys me playing, which is most important. So we’re going to keep going as long as we can. Every year is a new challenge and I enjoy those challenges. Until I quit, finding something to replace this will be hard.”

The former fifth overall pick and 2001 rookie of the year with the Orlando Magic has spent the last two seasons playing for Denver, his seventh NBA team. The term “elder statesman” sounds way too starchy but that’s essentially what he is. He’s under contract through the 2017-18 season with the Nuggets and sounds anxious to fulfill it.

“We got a lot of young talent in Denver, a bright future in Denver, which is exciting,” he said. “They deserve it. The organization is the best. It was a lot of fun – we almost made the playoffs. Every year is another chapter where you learn something new about yourself and others. I try to just enjoy that.”

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And keep it enjoying it for a while yet. Miller played in just 20 games last year but offered a level of perspective and a sense of proportion that is difficult to come by.  There just aren’t a lot of 17-year veterans around these days who can still make themselves useful on the court.

“I’ve learned patience,” he said. “I’ve learned to relate to young kids. We have one of the youngest rosters in Denver and a new kid coming in every year. I was blind when I walked in (to the NBA), the same way they are. I’ve learned how to relate to those guys – they need to understand that there are a lot of small hurdles in a long race and the quicker they put their egos aside, the longer they’re going to last. Those are the most important things you can teach these guys.

“As you go on you learn a little bit more about coaching and how to relate to them. And how to handle situations. Those are things that at 23 I wasn’t looking at and at 27 I wasn’t looking at. But I’ve been able to be around a lot of great coaches and great men and I’ve been able to learn a lot.”

The sense of perspective developed through years has also changed the way he looks at his own past.

“I get hit up on social media a lot – ‘The Pentagon is amazing. The Corn Palace is amazing.’ – You get spoiled a little bit being around here,” he said. “I didn’t know what I had until I was gone. I played in the Corn Palace every day and it was sold out. You start hearing stories from your teammates and they just had friends and family in the crowd. It’s totally different. There is a passion about basketball here. Sometimes you get spoiled about the things we have, but some day they will have an appreciation for it.”

While Miller was talking, there were hundreds of kids at the free clinic dribbling and shooting basketballs on the surrounding courts. With three of his own children he had the opportunity to compare notes with his celebrity basketball co-host Rebecca Lobo, the former UConn star who went on to play in the WNBA and is a mother of four between the ages of 6 and 12.

“We have kids about the same age,” said Lobo, who retired as a player in 2003. “And we’ve probably had similar experiences trying to teach them things. He’s a great representative of all South Dakotans.”

Lobo, who was the college player of the year for Geno Auriemma’s first national championship team at UConn, is now covering basketball at ESPN. While her experience as a player and analyst uniquely qualified her to be part of the Legends weekend, her experience as a mom probably meant more on Saturday.

“Twelve years ago I had zero experience dealing with kids in this age range,” she said. “Now I feel like I have a lot. So I know that the five- and six-year-olds, if they’re anything like mine, aren’t going to listen at all. You just have to make this a fun experience and make them want to keep coming back.”