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OT: Darius Miles


crymdg2

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"So I do a little tuck-and-roll or whatever, and I hit the water. Ploosh. Go under. Now, you might not know this about me, but I can really swim. I’m like the black Michael Phelps. That’s no problem. But the thing about me is, I don’t do ocean water. Too murky, man. If I can’t see underneath me, I’m out. "

 

My favorite part.

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For those who don’t know, Zo’s Summer Groove is legendary. Actors, singers, ballplayers. It’s like a whole week of camps for the kids, and cookouts, and parties. Iverson’s gonna be down there. Marbury. Gary Payton. Lenny Kravitz. Tommy from Martin.

This last part cracked me up.  It's even funnier if you read it in the voice of Stefon from SNL.

140228_2751972_Weekend_Update__Stefon_on

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1 hour ago, FromDaEastSide said:

Wow, agree with @crymdg2, best high school player I ever saw in person. Great read.

Darius Miles is right up there. I saw KG and Ronnie Fields in the Shoot out in 93 or 94 maybe. I saw Larry Legend a lot and Jayson Tatum his Senior year. 

Those 5 are pretty interchangeable when it comes to high school stars.

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1 minute ago, dlarry said:

Darius Miles is right up there. I saw KG and Ronnie Fields in the Shoot out in 93 or 94 maybe. I saw Larry Legend a lot and Jayson Tatum his Senior year. 

Those 5 are pretty interchangeable when it comes to high school stars.

Darius Miles, Jahidi White, Larry Hughes, Brad Beal.....also remember watching Chris Carawell and Loren Woods together, they were like a highlight real all game long.

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38 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

This last part cracked me up.  It's even funnier if you read it in the voice of Stefon from SNL.

I glossed over this post initially and was like well played, then went back to it and read that quote like Stefon and am now laughing uncontrollably.

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27 minutes ago, JohnnyJumpUp said:

Darius Miles, Jahidi White, Larry Hughes, Brad Beal.....also remember watching Chris Carawell and Loren Woods together, they were like a highlight real all game long.

Don't forget the 2001 Shootout, when David Lee went off against Centralia and overshadowed the headlining night game between Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. Those Chaminade teams underperformed quite a bit, but that was eye opening.

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3 hours ago, crymdg2 said:

Still the best high school player I've ever seen. 

This is an incredible piece, thanks for posting. It's hilarious and gut wrenching. Really emotional ride. And it's an extra gut punch to get to the bottom and see the posts from Richardson, Odom, and Dooling. I'm glad these guys are finally in a place where they can talk about this stuff publicly and feel supported.

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i took my son aka crymdg, to see miles play miles senior year at Eastside.    We get to collinsville and miles is sitting by himself, with a sweatsuit and hoodie with headphones on across the floor from the flyers bench during the jv game.  the rest of the team is sitting behind the bench.   i tell my son, "oh man, i wonder if miles isnt playing?"

the jv game at the end of the 3rd quarter the team goes to the lockerroom........except darius.   i am bummed.   it appears darius isnt suiting up.  i assure my son, the game will still be fun as eastside has a good team.  even without miles.   

so the game ends and darius strolls down the bleachers.   stops at the concession stand.   then walks into the lockerroom.   didnt think anything about it, as one would thing he would at least listen to the pregame talk with his teamates even if he wasnt playing.  

about a minute later the team bust out of the lockerroom.   and Darius is the last guy out.   he goes through the warmups and of course starts the game.   

he was spectacular.   he had double digits in everything.  points, rebounds, blocks, assists, steals.   he was on another planet talentwise.   incredible show.   i left there in shock at the display we had just witnessed.   as my son said, greatest high school player performance i have ever witnessed.   

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2 hours ago, FromDaEastSide said:

Wow, agree with @crymdg2, best high school player I ever saw in person. Great read.

I don't know about all-around player, but he was something.  I haven't seen anybody in high school with his size, athletic ability, fearlessness and instincts.  Miles seemed like he could always feel where that open lane to get to the basket was going to be,  knew when that guard would be looking for him and he seemed to know where exactly to go for the rebound.  He was tough. He would fly through bodies on the way to the hoop and wiped out hard a few times, but would get right back up like nothing happened.  He was probably the most fun high school player to watch.  A dunking machine

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Seeing the video embedded in the article brought back memories of what he was like in HS. The best word I can think of for him was "unfair" - like he just seemed so good so young, and he had incredible length and such a natural feel for the game. Like Hughes and Tatum and a few others were so talented or complete at that age, but Miles looked like the kind of player you'd create for yourself in a video game. I could see why he seemed like such a no-brainer to NBA scouts.

Of course he got drafted by the most dysfucntional franchise at the time (Donald Sterling sounds like a massive creep, by the way; I can't say enough about how awful he comes off in such brief mentions by both Miles and Q in their pieces), which squandered the best young core in the league, nor could they have foreseen the injuries that would shut Miles down a few years later. I'd like to think he could've had a much different career without a couple bad breaks like that.

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3 hours ago, crymdg2 said:

Still the best high school player I've ever seen. 

Wish some of you could've seen Rodney Rogers from Durham, NC Hillside High School, Class of '90. Absolute beast of a high school player, 6'7, built like a linebacker with power, hops, explosiveness, and an excellent shooting touch. Built very much like Hasahn but with a more complete game.

He was the savior of the Wake Forest program in the early '90s, but if he'd gone to Duke or Carolina, he would've been a household name. Wake gets lost in the shuffle in NC, and nationally for that matter. Saw him in a game against Chapel Hill High School and everyone was freaking out about what they were watching. Ran into the local news channel photographer at a convenience store after the game and we agreed that we couldn't believe what we'd just seen.

Rodney had an excellent college career and some flashes in the league, but in high school he was a man-child just toying with the competition.

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Miles was a couple years behind me in school but he was a known commodity.  My AAU team went to a camp and he was there when he was 13.  Just an outsized athlete.  He was better than us 4 years younger.  He rented a place in Mansion House when I lived downtown in my early 20s.  We partied at his place a couple times.  He rented two apartments and just took a sledgehammer to one of the walls to make it an 8 room suite.  A few years back I got wind that they were auctioning off all his memorabilia.  I cam home with boxes of jerseys, signed balls, posters, shoes, my wife freaked out.  For being really just a bit player everyone loves his stuff.  When I was in Seattle this summer I traded some of the jerseys and shoes for some Tom Chambers and Shawn Kemp jerseys that had a lot more value.  Collector I sold it to framed it all, he'll never sell any of Miles' items.  Darius is akin to some of those ABA players, who just never made it because of drugs or bad contracts, there is a mythical quality to him.  

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just curious if anyone knows miles' father's name?  that is the part in the read that made me wonder.   who's name could he drop that got the thug to walk away like that?

 

would have been nice to read more about the "after the nba" part of darius's life.   he's apparently lost it all.  of course a lot is his own fault i am sure, but there were probably plenty of hangerons and bad advisors there with their hands in his pockets as well.   

 

last, what is he doing now?   anything?

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2 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

just curious if anyone knows miles' father's name?  that is the part in the read that made me wonder.   who's name could he drop that got the thug to walk away like that?

 

would have been nice to read more about the "after the nba" part of darius's life.   he's apparently lost it all.  of course a lot is his own fault i am sure, but there were probably plenty of hangerons and bad advisors there with their hands in his pockets as well.   

 

last, what is he doing now?   anything?

When I read the part about his father I assumed that people knew his father for bad reason. 

His name probably wouldn’t mean much to us but it would mean a lot on the streets of ESL. 

I could be wrong but that’l was my take away.

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His dad is apparently Voldemort.

I thought his line "The cliche is that guys go broke buying Ferraris or whatever. Listen, it takes a long time to go broke buying Ferraris. What makes you go broke are shady business deals. They'll make the money disappear quick" was on point. People criticize these guys for what they can see - jewelry and houses and cars and clothes - but the stuff you can't see is what really eats up a guy's wealth quickly. Bad investments, divorce, child support - those are the real killers. I can only imagine how many business deals cross these guys' plates, and how many of those are coming from unsavory characters who know how to sell an investment pitch to a young, vulnerable, suddenly-rich athlete without any experience in the white collar world.

For Miles, it sounds like a bunch of bad investments, plus he also probably took care of a few too many people back home. Although, honestly, you could buy several entire blocks of ESL real estate on a single NBA paycheck.

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