In fact, Miller, who was acquired by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a June trade, has donated more than $1.5 million to children’s charities through the Mike Miller Foundation.
“My wife and I just wanted to find a way to give back, and we’ve always been really interested in helping kids,” he said...
Miller is one of about 10 professional athletes in Minnesota who operate nonprofit foundations. Others include Timberwolves teammates Ryan Gomes and Randy Foye, Minnesota Twins pitcher Craig Breslow and the Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, E.J. Henderson, Matt Birk, Madieu Williams and Jared Allen.
The Timberwolves’ Miller took a different approach for his first business venture, starting his own clothing line called M33M Clothing.
“I really just started it for myself, just doing it for fun,” Miller said. “I wore the clothes out and people started asking about it.”
Now the clothes are available online and even in some stores.
“It’s been a fun venture, but right now it’s just on the back burner,” Miller said.
Click here for a link to Miller’s clothing line.
Bob Sansevere/Pioneer Press interviews Miller:
My dad was the principal. He knew everything I did. I stayed out of trouble. One time, though, I shot a BB gun through my front window. I was 8 or 9 years old. My dad skipped the lecture. He went straight to the spanking.
The best days of my life were the births of my two boys. Mason turns 6 next week. And Mavrick is 4. Those were amazing days. Professionally, the best day probably was draft day.
I’m just like any other Midwesterner. I like when people come up to me. I’ll talk about anything. I like to get involved in the community and with kids.
My teammates would be surprised if they knew I played high school basketball in the Corn Palace (in Mitchell, S.D.). If they saw it, they’d be surprised. You can’t really explain it…
According to the Web site basketball-reference.com, just four North Dakota natives have played in the NBA, and Miller is one of five South Dakota natives.
The other top players to come from the Dakotas – Williston’s Phil Jackson and Rapid City’s Eric Piatkowski – were born in Montana and Ohio, respectively.
Miller is by far the most prolific scorer to hail from the region, with 8,140 career points and a 14.4 career average. He also has the highest averages in rebounds (4.8) and assists (3.0).