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That time Toronto Raptors legend Oliver Miller stuck his neck out for a cyclist

The former NBA star died at 54 but will always be remembered for his kindness on and off the court

Photo by: @oldskoolbballx/X
March 13, 2025
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Oliver Miller, the former Toronto Raptor centre, has died at 54. He was on the inaugural team from 1995-1996. In the early days of the Toronto Raptors, the team played in what was then called the SkyDome–now the Rogers Centre. They wouldn’t have a permanent home until 1999, when they moved into the Scotiabank Arena (then known as the Air Canada Centre). As a result, they had to find other locations for practice–one of which was Glendon College, the French campus of York University.

And I happened to be studying there. The Raps would use the court in the gymnasium at the athletic centre for practice. They used the adjacent gym for working out. The gym was never that busy at the time, which was perhaps why the team liked it. It was common to see the players working out in their purple and black tracksuits–including Miller.

Miller riding the trainer

Miller was a big guy, and the Raptors wanted him to lose weight, so he’d be often riding the LifeCycles they had there. Although I was training on my regular bike quite a bit, I would sometimes do a cooldown on the trainers after working out. The first time I rode beside Miller, I didn’t say much, as I was probably a little starstruck—but he sure did. He was a super chatty, nice guy who would ask what I was studying, the usual stuff.  I asked how he liked Toronto. What he thought of the SkyDome; their season so far. And then, he would challenge me to a race on the LifeCycles. This was, of course, years before Zwift, but you could still race other people on these early spin bikes. ( I won’t say who won those races, but let’s just say it’s a good thing we didn’t settle it with a free throw contest.)

I mentioned how I bike raced, and he was fascinated. He didn’t know much about cycling but had lots of questions. I explained how races worked, the Tour de France, yellow jerseys–the typical questions that non-cyclists ask you.

He then asked if I rode to school. I said yes, I rode the 40 km to and from my parent’s house north of the city. He couldn’t believe it! It was then he asked to see my bike. My bike at the time–a lugged carbon bike–was locked outside the athletic centre despite my request to bring it inside. The management insisted that wasn’t allowed.

Fascinated with modern racing bikes

So I showed him my ride, and he was fascinated by how light it was. Miller loved the Shimano STI levers. I showed him how they acted as both brakes and shifters. He loved it and tried clicking them. Then, he joked that he wanted to try it but was worried he would break it.

After that, something happened which I’ll never forget. Looking at the bike and the lock, he said, “Man, aren’t you worried your bike is going to get stolen?” I said I was, but I didn’t have any options as I wasn’t allowed to keep the bike inside.

He said, “Hold on.” He went inside and spoke to one of the equipment managers and came back out, smiling. Miller said I could keep my bike inside one of their storage rooms, and it would be much safer. (By the way, these storage rooms were full of size 17 purple and black Air Jordans. Which are probably worth a fortune now. But anyway…)

Miller only spent one year in Toronto–he next went to the Dallas Mavericks, but I’ll never forget how he stuck his neck out for me and my bike.