One look at Andre Miller, even during his prime years in the NBA, wasn’t enough to convince anyone that he was an elite point guard. At 6’3″ and weighing a smidge over 200 pounds, his physique paled in comparison to other top players at his position. However, what Miller lacked in physical stature, he more than made up for with his intelligence and dedication to his craft.
In a conversation with Matt Barnes on the “All The Smoke” podcast, he admitted to binge eating every time the season ended, resulting in massive weight gain. At the same time, he also disclosed his methods to lose excess weight, which included running on the side of the freeway after spending most of the night at a nightclub.
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Felt right at home
Miller narrated that once his season ended, he immediately flew back home to Los Angeles and decompressed. While other players immediately took vacations to exotic islands or spent their downtime partying, Miller opted to stay in his comfort zone. He spent most of his time at home with family and close friends, eating whatever he wanted and not worrying about staying in shape.
“So, you know, I come right back home to Los Angeles and, you know, it’s barbecues, you know, I’m eating,” Miller conveyed. “I’m gaining 20 pounds in like four or five days, you know. So, you know, straight up, man.”
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Andre added that he usually took May and June off, not even holding a basketball at any point in time. However, Miller knew better than to take too much time off. Occasionally, he’d pull up to a park and participate in some pickup games.
Once school began, he shifted his focus to playing in the famed pickup runs at UCLA, where NBA, overseas pros and collegiate standouts converged.
“It really picked up once kids started to go back in school in August, and then everybody would go to UCLA,” he shared. “Let me get up in here and try to shed some of this weight, which I couldn’t.”
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Miller had some unorthodox workouts
Aware that playing pickup ball wasn’t going to help him get his weight down in time for training camp, Miller said he resorted to running everywhere he could at any time. Andre even recalled a time when he ran a few miles immediately after a night out.
“That’s when I start like, you know, whether I was in Sacramento or somewhere, I start doing like crazy workouts,” Miller declared, stunning Barnes. “I’ll go run the side of a freeway, you know, after a club or something like that.”
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“We’ll go to a club or something. And you know, I wasn’t no drinker like that. But, you know, in order to get in shape, ’cause I wasn’t the type of person that to go get with other guys and work out. I just had my own routines,” he continued. “We go to the club like, ‘Let me out, man. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out.’ And then I run from, you know, downtown Sacramento to, you know, Natomas.”
Miller said that despite all that work, he’d arrive in training camp still 10 pounds over his usual playing weight. However, he wasn’t worried about that, as he knew he would shed that once the season came due to the grind of practices and games.
“I didn’t want to overexert myself in the summer because I knew the NBA was a grind. So the guys that was working out in the summertime, they breaking down around Christmas, where we knew that the season started like, you know, after All-Star,” he divulged.
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Miller never had a chiseled physique or unreal athleticism. In fact, Utah Jazz legend John Stockton once chided him over his chubbiness back when he was still in college. However, Andre was aware of who he was and his attributes, and made sure to use them to his advantage in his 17 years in the NBA.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.