A Most Fitting Farewell?

There was Tim Duncan, playing all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter as the Spurs scrambled to rally from a 26-point deficit and force a game seven against the Thunder. And there was Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and the rest of the TV crew on ESPN scrambling as well, stunned like the rest of the NBA world at how lopsided the game was, how doomed the Spurs’ season was with so much time remaining.

So much time to wonder, is this it? With Duncan at age 40, Ginobili at 38, is this the end of the Big Three era? With such a notion a sudden and strong possibility, deserved (somewhat rushed) praise was heaped on both players, graphics displayed of the unending, dazzling statistics, discussion of the even more impressive qualities that could not be measured in numbers.

The Spurs’ rally was valiant, a couple more bounces and the score could have really tightened, but ultimately fell short. In the waning moments, Jackson began to ponder if Gregg Popovich would sub out Duncan, “the greatest power forward in the history of the game,” and allow for a (perhaps) final goodbye from the fans.

But Pop showed no such inclination, and Jackson reversed course. Leave the big man on the court, he agreed. No pomp and circumstance, no mic drop. Play until the final buzzer, a fitting farewell for a career that has never been about anything but the game of basketball.

When the game concluded, Duncan exchanged congratulations, then slowly made his way up the tunnel, the camera following his every move. With his head down, he raised one finger toward the crowd. What that acknowledgement signified was unclear. Maybe, as Van Gundy hypothesized, Duncan will play again next season.

And throughout it all, there is Andre Miller.

Inserted into the lineup in the fourth quarter alongside Duncan, a move as unexpected as the nature of the Spurs’ defeat, the Utah alum responds exactly as only Miller can. Almost immediately, the player that has held the moniker of oldest player in the league for two seasons—a point guard!— is somehow in the right place for an offensive rebound and putback score. He follows that with two herky-jerky, vintage pick and roll assists to Duncan, the first time in NBA history a 40-year-old has assisted another 40-year-old.

The Thunder lead is cut to 11, but the Spurs can’t get any closer. In the waning, frantic moments, Miller (who has never added a three-point shot to his game) attempts a corner three that comes up way short. He manages to grab his own rebound, makes a wild attempt at drawing a foul that results in a missed layup, and the Thunder regain possession.

With 18 seconds left and the Spurs down 15, Kyle Anderson goes to the free throw line. Miller drifts toward the other end of the court and begins to preemptively congratulate the Thunder players.

Steven Adams is subbed out to a raucous cheer from the Thunder crowd. Before Adams can reach his bench, Miller approaches him and extends his hand. Adams takes it, looking a little surprised; perhaps that the first player he met on the sideline was a Spur. Or perhaps Adams is simply surprised to see Miller at all. One has to wonder how much he knows about him, if he would even recognize him on the street. The last time Miller averaged 10 points a game Adams was a teenager living in New Zealand.

There are no Andre Miller graphics displayed during the broadcast, no nostalgic comments for what he brought to the game, which, of course, is perfectly appropriate.

Despite an impressive— in many ways extraordinary— career, Miller has gone largely unnoticed. With his calm, private demeanor, he has spent most of his basketball life lurking in the shadows. Maybe that’s how he likes it.

Andre Miller, AKA The Professor, has never made an All-Star team. He has never gotten out of the second round of the playoffs. In his 10-team, 16-year NBA career he never had a stint with one team last more than four seasons (though he played on the Nuggets for a combined seven.)

Yet he sits ninth on the all-time assists list. He is 30th all-time in minutes played. Gary Payton, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, John Stockton, and Andre Miller— yeah, Andre Miller— are the only other players ever to amass 16,000 points, 8,000 assists, and 1,500 steals in their career.

Beyond the statistical numbers, there was a toughness and durability that suited his methodical, calculating style of basketball. Miller played at least 80 games in each of his first 13 seasons, including a streak of 632 consecutive games that was only snapped by a one-game suspension after an incident with Blake Griffin. Because Andre Miller doesn’t give a fuck.

But perhaps the greatest moments in Miller’s career came from the unexpected, be it from small plays like fake timeouts, or from an out-of-nowhere outburst of scoring. In 2010, at age 33, Miller put an injury-decimated Blazers team on his back and dropped 52 points in an overtime road victory at Dallas. His previous career high was 37. In the prior game, he had made one shot. Miller was generally apathetic about the performance post-game.

There is nare a sentence on his Wikipedia page about The Professor’s personal life. He has no social media presence. The man just balls, and keeps balling, whether you’re paying attention or not, whether he is playing 10 minutes a game or 40, the good and the bad. And he does it with his socks inside out, loose at the toes, laces tied around his ankles just… because, that’s what he does.

Maybe he’s short-arming corner threes and getting burned on defense by Russell Westbrook. Or maybe he’s diming up Duncan rolling off a pick. Maybe he’s posting up, or dunking in the face of his former team just when you thought he couldn’t jump anymore.

And maybe he’ll be back next year, Duncan too; the first ever 41-year-old assist to another 41-year-old. Only this time it’s Duncan, facing up at the elbow, finding Miller underneath the hoop as he slips behind his defender. Ye olde Dre Dog makes just enough space with his body to scoop in a crafty reverse layup between the outstretched arms of players much quicker than him, much more athletic than him, and who have likely sold many more jerseys than him, then trots back up the court, expressionless. Maybe he’ll score 50 tonight. Maybe that will be his only bucket. Either way, he probably won’t be too bothered.