Mike Miller didn’t hold back when recalling one of his most frustrating veteran experiences in the NBA. On his OGs podcast, the two-time NBA champion revealed how a young Denver Nuggets lottery pick disrespected his time and blew off an opportunity to improve his game. Miller didn’t mention the player’s name, but all signs point to Emmanuel Mudiay, the No. 7 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
"When I was in Denver my last couple years, I ain't gonna mention the kid's name, but the ownership came to me and said, hey man, we need to work on this kid's jumper bar and just work."
"I said, all right, cool, hit him up. I'll be there tomorrow at nine o'clock. Shows up at 9:15. I'm cool with that though. I'm like, all right, cool. Listen, young fella, I'm 38. I don't really need this."
"I'll be here tomorrow at nine. Shows up at 9:30. I said to him last time, I said, yo, young fella, listen to me, man. Just so you know, I got one more again. I'll be here tomorrow at nine. Shows up at 9:45. I hit up boss man, I said hey this ain't it. And this is a lottery pick now and the motherfucker went out the league."
The “lottery pick” detail and the timeline give it away: it was Emmanuel Mudiay. Reports from the Denver Post years ago confirmed Miller was assigned to help Mudiay fix his broken jumper. Mudiay, once hyped as the point guard of the future, clearly didn’t take the mentorship seriously, and his NBA career fizzled out quickly.
Mudiay’s NBA career started with promise. Drafted seventh overall in 2015, he averaged 12.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.4 rebounds as a rookie. But his shooting inefficiency was glaring, he hit just 36.4 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from deep.
Despite his quickness and size, defenses dared him to shoot, and he never developed the consistency to punish them. Over six NBA seasons with Denver, New York, Utah, and Sacramento, Mudiay posted career averages of 10.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.1 rebounds on 40.0 percent shooting from the field and 32.8 percent from three.
His best year came in 2018–19 with the Knicks, when he averaged 14.8 points per game, but even then he was still plagued by streaky shooting and turnovers. By the time he hit his mid-20s, Mudiay was out of the league.
Today, at just 29 years old, Mudiay is far removed from being considered a rising NBA star. After his stint with the Kings in 2021, he bounced overseas. He spent time with Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania and Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico.
Most recently, he’s been suiting up for Rapid Bucuresti in Romania’s top league, an almost unthinkable fall for someone who was once drafted ahead of players like Devin Booker, Myles Turner, and Terry Rozier.
That’s why Miller’s story stings so much. Imagine being a young guard with shooting struggles and having Mike Miller, a career 40 percent three-point shooter and Finals hero, offering his wisdom, and shrugging it off by showing up late three days in a row. It’s a reminder of how slim the margin for error is in the NBA. Talent gets you drafted, but discipline and humility keep you around.
In hindsight, Miller’s account explains a lot about why Mudiay is no longer in the league. When opportunity literally knocks at your door, and you can’t even bother to answer on time, it doesn’t take long before the league moves on without you.
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