Malcolm Miller made his first NBA start on March 4 against the Hornets.

When the Raptors’ starting small forward OG Anunoby was ruled out of the lineup due to an injury for the second straight game on March 4, an unexpected and unknown Raptor stepped up in his starting place: Malcolm Miller.

Miller made his first NBA start with the Raptors against the Charlotte Hornets at the Air Canada Centre – and as much as fans wanted to embrace and cheer for him, many had no idea who he was.

Who is Malcolm Miller lol https://t.co/knsFuJBs4h — Uppity Ant (@AntEscrow) March 4, 2018





Drake Van Vleet is everywhere man. This Malcolm Miller person who I've never heard of even came in & splashed a 3. It'll be interesting how Casey uses his bench in the playoffs when rotations shrink & they play more starters, but man they are fun & play extremely well together. — Shervon Fakhimi (@ShervonFakhimi) March 3, 2018





I don’t know who is Malcolm Miller, but I think he has potentials for the Raptors. — Tenie_30_ (@Aldubnation315) March 5, 2018





But even without being as well-known to Toronto fans as Norman Powell, who started in Anunoby’s place on March 2, Miller played a solid game.

He didn’t make a huge impact, but he earned 14 minutes in the small forward position. If Anunoby’s ankle doesn’t heal soon, Toronto Raps fans might be seeing a lot more of the six-foot-seven, 210 pound sophomore.

But who exactly is Malcolm Miller and where did he come from?

First off, he’s former NBA-star Reggie Miller’s younger cousin.

View photos Malcolm Miller spent four years playing for the Patriot League’s Holy Cross Crusaders in Worcester, Massachusetts. More

But he has written his own story in his path to the NBA.

Miller is a 24-year-old (his 25th birthday is tomorrow!) Maryland native who played his four-year college basketball career with the Holy Cross Crusaders in the NCAA’s Patriot League.

In his senior year he averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.3 steals and 1.2 assists per game. He finished the season ranked second in the Patriot League in blocked shots, and he ranked third in all-time career blocked shots for the Crusaders with 143.

The shot-blocker was named to the All-Patriot League second team in his fourth year, but he went undrafted at the 2015 NBA draft. That didn’t end his NBA dreams, though.

After the draft he joined the Boston Celtics summer league team where he played over 12 minutes per game averaging 4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. That performance landed him his first NBA contract; he signed with the Celtics in September 2015.

He played in a single preseason game before being waived and later acquired by Boston’s affiliate D-league team, the Maine Red Claws.

In 47 games with the Red Claws, he averaged almost 13 points, five rebounds and two assists per game.





When the summer of 2016 rolled around, Miller signed his first European contract to play with Alba Berlin of the German Bundesliga and EuroCup.

But two months after signing, Miller suffered a fractured wrist and was forced to the sidelines for three months.

Teammates tried to drag Malcolm Miller to his feet by what later turned out to be broken wrist. He's out 3 months. pic.twitter.com/JI8dMHry1e — Alexander Chernykh (@chernykh) September 5, 2016





Malcolm Miller (RR – Maine Red Claws) will miss 3 months after suffering a left wrist fracture. He's signed with German club ALBA Berlin — Chris Reichert (@Chris_Reichert) September 6, 2016





The following summer Miller returned to the (newly named) G-league, and in a summer league practice with the Raptors he sprained his ankle so badly that he needed surgery, and was expected to miss 12 weeks.

Despite his injury, the Raptors used one of their two 2-way roster spots on Miller in July 2017 — that made him the first 2-way contract recipient in franchise history.

But Miller wouldn’t make his Raptors 905 debut until December 2017.

And were off @Raptors905 Malcolm Miller expected to make season debut during todays game. Miller has been sidelined since suffering an ankle injury in 2017 Summer League. #NBAGleague pic.twitter.com/tsitpXIHXm — Kashif I. Arshad (@kashifiarshad) November 18, 2017

Story continues