Los Angeles – Hello, you’ve reached Andre. Sorry, no tickets.
That was the voice message Nuggets guard Andre Miller left on his cellphone once he learned he would be coming home for the playoffs. The Los Angeles native wants as few distractions as possible during the series against his old team, the Los Angeles Clippers.
So far, so good. Miller was a bright spot in the Nuggets’ Game 1 loss, scoring 25 points and being the only Nugget to make more than 50 percent of his field goals (11-of-21).
On Monday night, he struggled along with the rest of the Nuggets, shooting 3-of-11 from the field, though he did have six rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes.
Playing in the postseason in his hometown against his former team is special for Miller.
“I’m trying not to hype it up, not look at it as a game in the city,” he said. “The main thing is winning this series.”
When the demand for tickets from friends grew, Miller quickly squelched that with his cell message.
“Just the way the schedule is, I think people understand,” he said.
Miller grew up in Los Angeles’ storied Watts neighborhood and was a standout at Verbum Dei High School. He went on to star at Utah, then was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent his first three seasons before the Clippers swung a trade to acquire him in July 2002.
While going home to live and play would seem like a professional dream, it was anything but for Miller, who rooted for both the Lakers and Clippers when growing up.
“I had a lot of things to worry about besides basketball. Helping my mom with her husband passing away. There were a lot of things going on,” Miller said. “I wouldn’t call it a distraction. More so family issues. It was tough just being from here.”
The unrest on the team didn’t help.
The Clippers probably had the NBA’s most talented collection of young players at the time, including Miller, Elton Brand, Quentin Richardson, Corey Maggette and Michael Olowokandi. But their inexperience, impending free agency and failure to adjust to two different coaches led to a horrendous 27-win season. Brand and Maggette were brought back, but Miller signed as a free agent with Denver, Olowokandi with Minnesota and Richardson with Phoenix.
“Probably half the team was up for contracts,” said Miller, who averaged 13.6 points and 6.7 assists during the 2002-03 season. “It was a difficult year. We had a lot of talent, guys I liked playing with. We just didn’t get it done.
“It was a transition. Players go through transitions and ups and downs in their careers.”
Maggette said the franchise has searched for a steady hand at the point since Miller left and finally has it this season with the veteran Sam Cassell, backed up by Shaun Livingston.
“Andre is a good friend of mine,” Maggette said. “When he was here, he was a good player. It just didn’t work out.”
During the offseason, Miller often spends time at the family home and plays pickup basketball when in town with NBA players at UCLA. But during the playoffs, his friends have one place to see him – on television, unless they were one of the lucky few who received tickets.
“My family understands,” Miller said.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.