Miami Heats’ Mike Miller trying to keep his focus on the game, even with an ailing newborn daughter
For Mike Miller, the most crucial game of his first year at the Miami Heat has arrived at just the wrong time, on a personal level. On one hand, the Miami Heat are trying to win Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls
while on the other side, Miller is trying to maintain focus even with his newborn daughter ailing.
Last Thursday as the Heat were preparing for game-3 against the Bulls, Miller was blessed with a baby girl. However, the baby girl named Jaelyn is suffering from some undisclosed childbirth complications. Due to her serious condition,
doctors kept Jaelyn in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital, where they are monitoring her condition quite closely and constantly.
Even with this kind of situation, the courageous Miami reserve guard was able to keep his composure and thump 12 crucial points against the Bulls in game-4, to put the Heat 3-1 up in the best of the seven game series. The 6 ft
8 Miller made it into the double-figures for the first time after mid-March and finally ended the shooting struggles that have haunted him throughout the season.
After game-4 he went straight to the South Florida hospital to visit his infant daughter and stayed there until 4 in the morning. Hours later, Miller accompanied the squad on their flight to Chicago, where they will meet the Bulls
for the fifth time in Eastern Conference Finals.
Miller admitted that it’s going to be really tough for him to keep his emotions intact during this journey. After a light workout on Wednesday afternoon he said, "Obviously, I haven't been away from her. I was there until 4 o'clock
again this morning. That'll be the hard part, when you're away and having to make decisions while you're away. That makes it difficult."
Miller also said, "She's doing good right now. And hopefully she'll continue to do better."
Miller did not miss a single game since Jaelyn was born, earlier on Tuesday he told the media people that his daughter is a “fighter”.
Overall, the last 12 months have been really tough for the guard as he did not just struggle on the court, but also endured an array of injuries, including a broken thumb on his shooting hand. In this time of agony, Miller’s team-mates
did not forget to support him. Udonis Haslem one of Miller’s best friends in the team said that he had experienced the similar situation earlier this season, when his son was born and was kept in ICU for several days. He said that Miller is strong man and
he is handling the situation very well.
Centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who lost his twins in 2007 due to premature birth said about Miller that, "He has a lot on his mind. You just try to be a good friend right now. He's one of the toughest individuals I've ever been around.
He's worked so hard, he's just a blue-collar guy who comes to play every day. But this, this is life."
For now, Mike Millers may be with the Heat, but his mind is certainly with his daughter.
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