Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller, NHRA drag racer Antron Brown inspire each other by pushing the pace

Charlotte Hornets star Brandon Miller was in awe as a rookie when he saw NHRA drag race star Antron Brown push to more than 300 mph on a quarter-mile track in a race lasting just seconds. Pushing the pace and winning will also be necessary if Miller and his Hornets hope to take the next step toward making the NBA playoffs.

Miller and the Eastern Conference’s ninth-seeded Hornets host the 10th-seed Miami Heat in a play-in tournament game in Charlotte tonight. The winner will go on the road Friday to play the loser of Wednesday’s 7-8 game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic. The reward is a first-round playoff matchup against the East No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons.

“We know it’s going to be a tight physical game,” Miller said about tonight against Miami. “So, we’re just going in there with the mindset of doing what we do best — playing in transition, our pace. Push the pace. Get our defensive habits back up.”

As for Brown, he’s always been on the offensive as a legendary NHRA drag racer who has not only won titles but broken barriers for African Americans.

Brown won the NHRA Top Fuel dragster championship in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2024. His 2024 title was his first as the team owner of AB Sports. Brown is also the first African American driver to win four titles in his field.

“Man, that’s big for African Americans,” Miller said. “Just seeing the Black culture in the racing game. My hat’s off to him for just going out there, just having that bravery. Just to sit in that tight space with that kind of force being released, I took my hat off to him.”

Miller grew up in Antioch, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. Auto racing is big locally at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and on a national scale with NASCAR at the Nashville Superspeedway. While Miller wasn’t a regular at those races, the third-year Hornets forward grew up loving muscle cars and now has an affinity for foreign cars.

Brown said Hornets chief marketing officer Seth J. Bennett set up Miller and his parents for a visit to their first NHRA drag race in Charlotte in 2024, which also included behind-the-scenes access to Brown.

“Just going out there, seeing how he prepared for races and gets focused, it’s kind of different from the basketball arena,” Miller, 23, said. “But it all can relate at some point. So just going out there, seeing another atmosphere, something that is not basketball, it kind of suits me perfect.

“It’s probably like [four] seconds of a race. It’s a good [four] seconds, though. It’s loud, intense. I’m glad to see him on the winning side of the races the majority of the time. And I always tilt my hat off to him for just taking that bravery and that mindset of just sitting in a car like that and going that fast. Because me, for me personally, I wouldn’t be doing that.”

At 6-foot-7, it also would be tough for Miller to fit in a drag racing car. In the meantime, Miller is doing just fine in his own profession.

Miller averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists in a season in which the Hornets went from a laughingstock franchise to up-and-comers in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte started the season 4-14 before turning it around with a 44-38 overall record, including a 32-14 mark since January. The Hornets’ resurgence has been led by Miller, point guard LaMelo Ball and 2026 NBA Rookie of the Year candidate Kon Knueppel.

When Brown has sat courtside at Hornets games, he’s been impressed with Miller. Brown sees similarities between basketball and drag racing.

“[Miller] has that eye of the tiger when he gets on the court,” Brown, 50, said. “He smiles. He’s got a great heart. But when he’s on the court, he becomes that tiger, man. It resonates with me when you share that same kind of competitive nature and just that type of person off the court like I am off the racetrack.

“When he came in my world, he saw what we go through — the mindset, the focus, and how intense the sport is and how powerful our sport was. It’s no different than when you sit courtside. I got to come watch his games a couple times and see how explosive their game is when you’re sitting courtside. There is a mindset and similarities that me and him share. Our sport is reactive where you do things on the fly because you prepare yourself for battle, but you have to do it with your unconscious mind.”

Like many NBA players, Miller has taken part in several postgame jersey swaps. Miller’s most notable one was with his boyhood idol, Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George. But Miller has also taken part in a unique jersey swap at a Hornets game with Brown.

Miller said Brown’s signed jersey is framed on the wall at his home.

“I brought one of my jerseys for him to wear, and then he gave me one of his jerseys signed, and then we did [the swap],” Brown said. “And then we actually did a little deal at the racetrack before that.”

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Only eight African American drivers have started a Cup Series race in NASCAR history. Bubba Wallace is currently the best-known full-time Black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. NBA icon Michael Jordan, owner of 23XI Racing, made NASCAR history when one of his drivers, Tyler Reddick, who is white, won the Daytona 500 and four of his first six races in 2026.

As arguably the most successful active African American race car driver, does Brown feel a responsibility to motivate aspiring Black drivers?

Brown answered the question with some deep words of wisdom.

“What I do feel is that a responsibility has been instilled on me,” Brown said. “Any athlete that gets to a certain level, whether you like it or not, that’s bestowed upon you. That’s part of your deal. What I have noticed over all the years that I’ve been racing is that people familiarize themselves with me. They look at me because they can see [themselves]. They say, ‘Hey, if Antron Brown can do this, so can I.’ For me, it’s opening that road map and saying, ‘Hey, yes you can, and this is how I’ve done it. This is how I achieved it.’ It’s not just the hard work. It’s the willingness to learn and to evolve to new levels. We’re all capable of it. It’s just that we’re our own roadblocks from making that happen.

“Everybody works hard, but how you want to evolve yourself to get to that next level is the question. For me, I tell people every day I’ve learned to try not to make the same mistake twice, and how to grow and put myself out there to do new things.”

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