Oliver Miller cause of death: fattest player in NBA history dies of cancer

Former NBA player Oliver Miller ed away on Wednesday as a result of cancer, according to the NBA Players Association. The center, who was 54 years old, played nine seasons in the league with the Suns, Pistons, Raptors, Mavericks, Kings and Timberwolves.

Miller, known as 'Big O', was considered the heaviest player ever to play in the NBA. After starring at the University of Arkansas, he began his professional career weighing 127 kilos, but over the years his weight increased to over 170. Shaquille O'Neal said in an interview that he came to one preseason weighing more than 180.

The center was 2.06 meters tall and his extraordinary corpulence did not prevent him from moving easily around the court. His good reading of the game also earned him a career of 493 games in the NBA with averages of 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 blocks.

A final lost to Jordan's Bulls

Miller was selected by the Suns with the 22nd pick in the 1992 draft, the same year Shaq was chosen first overall. That season, the center would be an NBA finalist with the Phoenix franchise, losing to Michael Jordan's Bulls in the battle for the ring. In his team changes, he was part of the Raptors' first team, which made its debut in the competition in 1995. The Canadian franchise and the University of Arkansas mourned his ing with messages on social media.

The center also played in Greece, Poland, Puerto Rico, China and minor leagues in the United States. Four years after finishing a second stint with the Suns, Miller returned to the NBA in 2003 to the Timberwolves. That would be his last season in the competition. Finally, he retired in 2010.

During his retirement, Miller had legal troubles. In 2012, he was sentenced to one year in prison for first-degree assault and possession of a handgun after pistol-whipping his girlfriend's brother at a barbecue in Maryland.