The clock ran out. Hamilton reached out symbolically, trying to grab Miller, but came up empty.
Miller stopped dribbling and listened to the thunderous roar from the stands and the home DJ screaming at the top of his lungs. A wave of overwhelming excitement washed over him.
He slowed his pace, looking at his excited teammates huddled together, then at Payton jumping for joy on the bench. In that instant, an uncontrollable emotion seemed to pierce right through him. He clutched the basketball tightly to his chest as tears he could no longer hold back began to flow freely.
Seventeen years!
He entered the league seventeen years ago.
In those seventeen years, he played 1,323 regular season games and 138 playoff games. He had almost perfect attendance, never missing significant time. He was a workhorse, diligently chasing a single goal for seventeen long years.
