Brandon Jordan Miller (born November 22, 2002) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. He was a consensus five-star recruit out of high school. He was the second overall pick in the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

by the Hornets.

Early life and high school career

Miller was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, grew up in

Antioch, Tennessee Antioch is a neighborhood of Nashville located approximately southeast of Downtown Nashville. It is served by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. History 19th century The community known as Antioch began at the ...

, and attended Cane Ridge High School. He was named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 23.3 points, eight rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.6 blocks, and 2.3 steals per game during his junior season. Miller repeated as the Gatorade Player of the Year and was named Tennessee Mr. Basketball as a senior after averaging 24.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. He also played in the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school all star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys and girls in the senior class. In 2015, a girl's game was introduced. Th ...

and the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is an American all-star basketball game played each year for boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the hi ...

Recruiting

Miller was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2022 class, according to major recruiting services. His first scholarship offer was from Tennessee State who are coached by his cousin, Brian Collins. On November 1, 2021, Miller committed to playing college basketball for

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

after considering offers from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and Tennessee State. He also considered playing professionally in Australia's NBL or the

G League Ignite The NBA G League Ignite was a developmental basketball team in the NBA G League. Originally based in Walnut Creek, California, with home games planned to have been played at the Ultimate Fieldhouse for their first two seasons before moving to Hende ...

College career

Miller was named to the

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

and

Julius Erving Award The Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate small forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarde ...

watch lists entering his freshman season at Alabama. On November 21, 2022, Miller earned his first

Southeastern Conference (SEC) The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members include the flagship public universities of 12 states, 3 ...

Freshman of the Week honor. On December 17, 2022, Miller scored 36 points and six rebounds against

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

. He posted an Alabama freshman-record 41 points on February 22, 2023, in a 78–76 overtime win against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Miller was named the Most Valuable Player of the

2023 SEC men's basketball tournament The 2023 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Southeastern Conference held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, from March 8 to 12, 2023. Seeds All 14 SEC teams ...

after averaging 20.3 points and 11 rebounds over three games. He finished the season averaging an SEC-high 18.8 points per game and also averaged 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists. At the end of the regular season, Miller was named the SEC Player of the Year, the SEC Rookie of the Year, and first-team All-Conference. He was a consensus second-team All-American selection after being selected to the first teams of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' and the second teams of NABC and

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

selections. Miller was also named the

USBWA National Freshman of the Year The USBWA National Freshman of the Year, with the men's and women's versions respectively named the Wayman Tisdale Award and Tamika Catchings Award, is an annual basketball award given to college basketball's most outstanding freshman male player ...

and the

NABC Freshman of the Year The NABC Freshman of the Year is an annual college basketball award presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and sponsored by Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel ...

. Miller struggled in the NCAA tournament, shooting just 19% from the field in Alabama's three games, the worst percentage by any player with 35 shot attempts in the tournament since 1985. Alabama fell in the third round of the tournament to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, with Miller going 3-of-19 from the floor. After the season Miller announced that he would forgo the remainder of his collegiate eligibility and enter the

Professional career

Charlotte Hornets (2023–present)

The

selected Miller with the second overall pick in the

. On October 25, 2023, Miller made his NBA regular-season debut, scoring 13 points in a 116–110 win over the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. On November 18, Miller scored a then career-high 29 points in a 122–108 loss to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. On January 29, 2024, Miller scored 29 points, tying his career high at the time, in a 113–92 loss to the New York Knicks. On February 4, Miller scored a then-career-high 35 points in a 115–99 loss to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. That record was upgraded to 38 points on November 21, 2024, when the team beat

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

123-121 in overtime. Miller started 27 games for Charlotte during the

2024–25 NBA season The 2024–25 NBA season is the 79th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2024, and ended on April 13, 2025. The NBA held an in-season tournament for the second consecutive year, now called ...

, averaging 21.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. On January 23, 2025, Miller was ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn

scapholunate ligament The scapholunate ligament is a ligament of the wrist. Rupture of the scapholunate ligament causes scapholunate instability, which, if untreated, will eventually cause a predictable pattern of wrist osteoarthritis called scapholunate advanced co ...

in his right wrist.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 74 , , 68 , , 32.2 , , .440 , , .373 , , .827 , , 4.3 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , .6 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 27 , , 27 , , 34.2 , , .403 , , .355 , , .861 , , 4.9 , , 3.6 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 21.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 101 , , 95 , , 32.7 , , .428 , , .366 , , .837 , , 4.4 , , 2.7 , , .9 , , .6 , , 18.3

College

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, , 37 , , 37 , , 32.6 , , .430 , , .384 , , .859 , , 8.2 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .9 , , 18.8

Personal life

Miller's father, Darrell Miller, played college football as a tight end at

under head coach

Gene Stallings Eugene Clifton Stallings Jr. (born March 2, 1935) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University (1954–1956), where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at hi ...

in the early 1990s. His older brother, Darrell Jr., played college basketball at

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

and professionally overseas. Miller's older sister, Britany, plays at

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842. The oldest campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842–1861 The university was founded by the Cumberl ...

. Miller revealed on an episode of

Paul George Paul Clifton Anthony George (born May 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "PG-13", he is a nine-time NBA All-Star and six-time member of the ...

's podcast that his GOAT (for "Greatest Of All Time") is George and that he modeled his game after him.

Firearm incident

On February 21, 2023, a Tuscaloosa police officer testified that Miller brought a firearm to teammate Darius Miles that was used in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris in Tuscaloosa earlier that year. According to Miller's attorney, Miles had left the gun in Miller's vehicle after Miller dropped Miles off at a club. As Miller was on his way back to pick up Miles, Miles texted Miller, requesting that Miller bring Miles's gun. When Miller arrived, Miles told his friend Michael Davis that the gun was in the vehicle. Davis retrieved the gun and shot into a vehicle in which Harris was a passenger, while Harris's boyfriend returned fire, resulting in two bullets striking Miller's car. Miller's attorney stated that Miller had no knowledge of any intent to use the weapon. According to the Tuscaloosa police officer's testimony, while Miles and Davis initially lied to officers about the incident, Miller's account of the shooting almost exactly matched what investigators gathered from video evidence and other witness testimony. Tuscaloosa County chief deputy district attorney Paula Whitley stated Miller would face no charges as a result of the incident.

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Brandon 2002 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Nashville, Tennessee Charlotte Hornets draft picks Charlotte Hornets players McDonald's High School All-Americans People from Antioch, Tennessee Sportspeople from Davidson County, Tennessee Small forwards