The Denver Nuggets kicked Ande Miller to the curb in January after he exploded at head coach Brian Shaw. The two men briefly chatted Sunday night as Miller’s Wizards visited the Mile High City, and ‘Dre thinks Denver made it seem as though the falling out was entirely his fault. Per Yahoo! Sports and the Denver Post:
“I was made out to be the bad guy, the villain because I was the one complaining about minutes,” Miller said. “That wasn’t the issue at all.”
“They gave me an opportunity to represent Denver,” Miller said. “I tried to do that the right way, but I was looked at as the bad guy, a disgruntled player. [The Nuggets said] I was complaining about minutes and that was never the issue. They made it look that way, and that I was upset. I understand that they have to protect themselves as an organization, but don’t blast the player.
“I came out and represented the organization, played games, practiced and did it the right way. Don’t bash me. It’s not true saying I was disgruntled about minutes and complaining. In reality, I was just speaking up for guys on the team and being a veteran leader. I was just doing my job.”
Shaw and Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly declined to comment on Miller’s situation through a team spokesman. The Nuggets considered Miller’s tirade a one-time incident that was out of character for the veteran.
Miller told reporters in Washington after the trade that he “lost his cool,” was “unprofessional” and that he apologized to his teammates. Miller says there is a lot more to the story.
“A lot of people don’t actually know what happened,” Miller said. “I didn’t get a chance to say my peace. I’ll leave it at that.”
“It was a decision made by both sides, to benefit both sides,” Miller said. “I said I wanted to stay away and they granted it. I wasn’t like it was made out to be, ‘He’s disgruntled, he’s exiled from the team.’ That wasn’t the case. I had a choice.”
“Just where I was at,” he said. “Where my thoughts were, how I felt. I thought it was best for me just to mve on.”I asked him if he wavered when injuries mounted. (At one point, the Nuggets had no point guards.)
“No, I knew I was staying away,” he said. “I was asked to come back, but I decided to stay away and continue to work out and be prepared for whatever happens. I’d say I wish I could be out there with my teammates, but I just made the decision for myself just to stay away. I didn’t want to bring any more attention to the organization or to the players to distract them from moving foward. So I just kind of stayed away.”
He added, “I just kind of flipped the page. The only lingering part was me just sitting around. That was probably the most irritating part. The learning experience, you can continue to learn no matter what year you are in the NBA. Whether you did right or wrong, you learn from it and move on.”
