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INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Fun fact: There are 450 players in the NBA. 30 teams, 15 players per roster. But before you get to that point, there’s thousands of Division I college players and even more when you go back to high school. The point being, these guys – the ones that grinded through each and every level to get to the professional level – are the one percent of the one percent.
Even then, “there’s levels to this.”
Jordan Miller, who just signed a 4-year, $8.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, is now on the first standard contract of his career. By all accounts, he’s made it to the league. But even then, he’s just become a small fish in a large, star-studded pond that is the NBA.
Miller spent a lot of time in the NBA G League where he was really able to develop.
“In the G League obviously you get the ball a lot more, things are run through you. For my position, to get off the two-way I wanted to play on the ball so I can show (the organization).
"Offense gets you there, but defense keeps you there,” he told The Sporting Tribune in an exclusive interview.
He continued, “The biggest thing though is just playing off the ball; I never had to do that since I joined the Clippers, even when I got that stint in the beginning of the season, our team makeup was different. Ultimately I think it helped me grow as a player. I think that’s the biggest difference, in the G League you get the ball, but here with the (LA Clippers) it’s more off ball (movement).”
It’s every hooper’s dream to finally sign that first contract, really putting the pen to the paper. So when it happened for Miller, the reality set in.
“It felt great. It felt like a lot of my hard work paid off, and that's the goal," he said.
"I knew I was going to come (into the league) on a two-way, so my first step before any other goal was to get myself off the two-way, and however that had to be done, had to be done. It took about a year and a half, but I’m grateful. It was a slow grind for sure, but I’m happy (as well).”
The work doesn’t stop there. A lot of guys, especially those who sign huge contracts, take their foot off the pedal. Miller is already a proven scorer, both at the G League and the NBA level.
For reference, his NBA averages for the 2024-25 season are 4.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1 assist per game on 43% from the field with just 12 minutes of action. His career high came on November 27, where he scored 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting against the Washington Wizards.
Switching to the G League, his numbers explode up to averages of 24.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. If those were NBA numbers, that’s a borderline All-Star.
Casual fans of the NBA may not pay attention to the G League. Social media will have people thinking the G League is for bad players, when in reality that’s just not the case.
“I think there’s a lot of great players in the G League. At the end of the day, it’s a developmental league, and some guys play simply because rosters (on the NBA side) might not just have a spot for them at the time, you know what I mean?" Miller said.
"I don’t think it’s necessarily a big skill difference – there is a skill difference for sure – but I think a lot of people from the outside looking in realize how competitive the G League really is.”
He also had the advantage a lot of guys don’t usually get this early in their career – help from the stars and veterans around the NBA. For Miller, his “vet” is Norman Powell, who’s been having a career year for the Clippers.
“Norm gives me a lot of insight. He had a similar path (to get to the NBA) but it’s where he is now. It’s his tenth year, and being able to bounce thoughts off of him and just pick up any knowledge that I can (has been really helpful).”
Miller knows he can do the things necessary to get to even higher peaks. The mentality is that he’s already made it this far, so just keep pushing forward.
“The biggest thing is just putting the work in. Come in early, stay late, putting up shots. Anything outside of the regular things I have to do on the daily," he said. "Just staying ready too; the position I’m in, I have 10 minutes (of playing time during an NBA game) I have to damn near be perfect. Watching films and just doing the things so when I get the opportunities, even if it’s a little one, I can capitalize on it.”
As the NBA season winds down, this is the time of year where you typically see guys in Miller’s shoes get more opportunities, and he wants to put the work in and take advantage of that. While short term goals are great, its better to think bigger, to which Miller said “Getting consistent minutes, and that’s done on my end, so just doing the things I need to do to (get there) and have a bigger opportunity,” one thing is for sure:
As the late, great Kobe Bryant famously said – “The job’s not finished. What’s there to be happy about?” Miller can celebrate this hard work he’s put in, but that pond he has just found himself in – if he approaches it right and makes the right strides, can make himself a whole lot bigger, and the pond a whole lot smaller.
