Less than a year ago, before achieving the fourth triple-double in EuroLeague history, Baskonia's point guard Codi Miller-McIntyre was seriously considering retirement. The BasketNews story details the events and considerations that eventually led to his EuroLeague debut at the age of 29 and explores the message it conveys to EuroLeague executives and players flying under the radar.
"Bro, I'm done," Codi Miller-McIntyre texted his agent ahead of the 2023 free agency.
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ALBA Berlin"What do you mean you're done?" his agent, Gerard Raventos, responded.
"I'm done from basketball. This is not worth it," a 29-year-old American guard replied.
Miller-McIntyre has just concluded his 7th professional season in Europe, where he maintained an average of over 15.0 points per game and ranked among the top 5 in assists with nearly 7.0 per night in one of the strongest domestic leagues in Europe, Turkey.
However, his team from Gaziantep faced relegation from the first division, mirroring his experience the previous year when he was in Andorra, and his club was relegated from the top division in Spain.
Adding to the challenges, in February, Turkey experienced its most devastating earthquakes in two decades, claiming the lives of over 55,000 Turkish and Syrian people.
The epicenter of the earthquakes was located 37 km west-northwest of Gaziantep, prompting Miller-McIntyre and the entire Gaziantep team to relocate to Istanbul to complete the season.
"Getting relegated with Andorra... Trying my hardest, fighting every night, but we were still losing games consistently. And then, going to Turkey, where we were doing pretty well, when we were in our city. But then the earthquake hit. And once the earthquake hit and we moved to Istanbul, we could not win a game to save our life. Everybody was mentally done and frustrated. People on the team were dealing with deaths with family members being hurt," Miller-McIntyre explained one of the hardest moments in his career on the URBONUS podcast.
"So all of that just hit me like, 'Yo, I literally could have lost my life being in a city for basketball.' And it's not the situation that I want to be in. So, what am I really doing out here? What if I was in Gaziantep in the wrong part of the city? I would have lost my life being in a situation that I wasn't truly happy in the first place," Miller-McIntyre explained.
Alone, without his family and loved ones close by, feeling unfortunate about his career circumstances and sensing disrespect from the top European clubs, Codi Miller-McIntyre was devastated.
Despite displaying promising numbers in various top domestic leagues and second-tier European club competitions, it still wasn't convincing enough for EuroLeague clubs to offer him an opportunity.
| Season | Team | League | Averages |
| 2022-23 | Gaziantep | Turkey | 15.4 PPG | 4.4 RPG | 5.9 APG |
| 2021-22 | Andorra | Spain | 13.7 PPG | 3.9 RPG | 5.2 APG |
| 2020-21 | Bourg | France | 10.9 PPG | 3.2 RPG | 4.4 APG |
| 2020-21 | Partizan | EuroCup | 13.1 PPG | 3.9 RPG | 4.5 APG |
| 2019-20 | Cedevita Olimpija | EuroCup | 15.2 PPG | 5.0 RPG | 4.5 APG |
| 2018-19 | Zenit | EuroCup | 9.3 PPG | 3.2 RPG | 5.4 APG |
| 2018-19 | Texas Legends | G League | 10.6 PPG | 5.9 RPG | 6.6 APG |
| 2017-18 | Parma | VTB | 16.0 PPG | 5.0 RPG | 8.0 APG |
| 2016-17 | Leuven | Belgium | 17.2 PPG | 4.3 RPG | 5.8 APG |
Miller-McIntyre was already exploring real estate business opportunities. His family owns a real estate company, and he thought it looked like a solid situation to wind off after two tough back-to-back seasons.
"I was like, 'I think I'm done.' Like, I need to take a year off at least. I need to get my mind right because of the stress that overseas puts on players when you don't have your family with you... You're not surrounded by loved ones, and you know how the basketball world is out here. It's cutthroat," revealed Miller-McIntyre.
One of the challenging experiences in Codi Miller-McIntyre's career unfolded when he received his first EuroLeague offer during the 2020-21 season while playing for Partizan Belgrade. Panathinaikos Athens came calling.
"I was having a decent year, and I had an offer on paper to go to Panathinaikos. Contract ready, everything.
