# Yahoo: Mile's Questionable Return



## whatsmyname (Jul 6, 2007)

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...ug=ys-milescomeback091708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns


Can be found at www.sports.yahoo.com/nba


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## chairman (Jul 2, 2006)

I found this quote interesting:

"I don’t ever remember a bad article being written about me until I got to Portland. I’m not saying it’s a bad place. It’s a great organization. I love (owner) Paul Allen. Larry Miller, the president, a great guy. The players are great. It just didn’t work out. One little thing turned into a big thing......... .”

I think that is a fair statement. Mostly brought on by 2-3 media people in the Portland area. Note to the new Blazers......kiss their A$$es.


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## Short Bus Ryder (Jun 8, 2007)

What do you think we have nothing else to talk about its Portland?


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## nikolokolus (Jan 29, 2008)

I think Darius raises a fair point about his portrayal in local media. I'm not sure where he ran afoul of John Canzano and Jason Quick (Quick to a lesser extent) but I remember getting somewhat caught up in the negativity surrounding him, but when his knee actually was declared so bad that it was a career ending injury and not just him "faking it" I started to rethink the almost witch-hunt like smear job that JC had done on the guy ... usually always decrying "Miles' love of the lifestyle", or deriding his choice to spend time in strip clubs (as if that's so rare in a city with the most strip clubs per capita of any American city).

I know him coming back kills some of Portland's capspace, but it sounds like he really does miss the game and for his sake I hope he does come back and redeem himself by living up to at least some of the wasted potential he had early in his career.


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## BenDavis503 (Apr 11, 2007)

Short Bus Ryder said:


> What do you think we have nothing else to talk about its Portland?


LOL repped


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## ProZach (Oct 13, 2005)

chairman said:


> I found this quote interesting:
> 
> *"I don’t ever remember a bad article being written about me until I got to Portland*. I’m not saying it’s a bad place. It’s a great organization. I love (owner) Paul Allen. Larry Miller, the president, a great guy. The players are great. It just didn’t work out. One little thing turned into a big thing......... .”
> 
> I think that is a fair statement. Mostly brought on by 2-3 media people in the Portland area. Note to the new Blazers......kiss their A$$es.



Haha.... Marijuana affects your memory, exhibit A.


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## Nate4Prez (Jun 3, 2007)

thanks for posting, great unbiased article.


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## STOMP (Jan 1, 2003)

nikolokolus said:


> I think Darius raises a fair point about his portrayal in local media. I'm not sure where he ran afoul of John Canzano and Jason Quick (Quick to a lesser extent) but I remember getting somewhat caught up in the negativity surrounding him, but when his knee actually was declared so bad that it was a career ending injury and not just him "faking it" I started to rethink the almost witch-hunt like smear job that JC had done on the guy ... usually always decrying "Miles' love of the lifestyle", or deriding his choice to spend time in strip clubs (as if that's so rare in a city with the most strip clubs per capita of any American city).
> 
> I know him coming back kills some of Portland's capspace, but it sounds like he really does miss the game and for his sake I hope he does come back and redeem himself by living up to at least some of the wasted potential he had early in his career.


so many great players have had their careers cut down by injury... David Thompson, Ralph Sampson, & Sabas spring to mind. It's a rough sport on the joints. Darius trying to play through a knee injury "for the team" hopefully taught Blazer management a valuable lesson though. 

The media here... what hasn't been said? But they either tapped into or helped create a subsection of Blazer fans who love to hate. Fans eager to find faults so they can complain and be upset. Every year they've got a new scapegoat and the last few years they feasted on Darius... who is up next? Raef that lazy no-good? Or is it that idiot McMillan with his crazy substitution patters? :sadbanana:


chairman said:


> Note to the new Blazers......kiss their A$$es


Quick and Canzano suck. We deserve better.

STOMP


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## NateBishop3 (Jul 22, 2003)

Darius really is a nice guy. He just doesn't care much about basketball.


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## ProZach (Oct 13, 2005)

STOMP said:


> so many great players have had their careers cut down by injury... David Thompson, Ralph Sampson, & Sabas spring to mind. It's a rough sport on the joints. Darius trying to play through a knee injury "for the team" hopefully taught Blazer management a valuable lesson though.
> 
> The media here... what hasn't been said? *But they either tapped into or helped create a subsection of Blazer fans who love to hate. Fans eager to find faults so they can complain and be upset.* Every year they've got a new scapegoat and the last few years they feasted on Darius... who is up next? Raef that lazy no-good? Or is it that idiot McMillan with his crazy substitution patters? :sadbanana:
> 
> ...




I guess we all love to hate something. There's no difference in someone hating Miles or someone hating Canzano. No difference in hating Jason Quick or hating J. Jack. 

The new craze is obviously to hate the 'haters', and I agree there has been a lot of hate from Portland fans directed at several players this decade, a lot of it probably unfounded. But the circumstances of the jailblazer era and the endless amount of events that led fans & media alike to 'love to hate' the Blazers, can not be trivialized. I mean, I can't think of any other Basketball franchise that had that many embarrassing things happen to it like the jailblazers did. When you look back on it, it's laughable. 

Darius never showed any heart on any of the teams he played for, and now, because of his unfortunate injury, he faces the prospect of losing his incredibly blessed lifestyle forever and so he's suddenly willing to put out. Now you could say 'better late than never', or 'people change', or 'everyone deserves a fourth chance', and you'd be right. But I know too many people who have never had that first chance, worked their asses off for decades and still with our current economy, face bankruptcy. So some spoiled, underachieving basketball player is the last on my list for sympathy. The question is not whether Darius is a good guy, like the guys we have on the team now. What separates guys like Roy from Miles are things like, realizing what you have while you have it, not taking it for granted and always trying to get better, and treating teammates, coaches, media, fans, and the game with respect.


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## Hector (Nov 15, 2004)

"It was a long two years. I felt I could have played last year, but that wasn't in the [Blazers'] plans. 

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/09/14/no_end_in_sight/?page=full


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## Hector (Nov 15, 2004)

I know you're not supposed to show a long quote, but I have a reason. The original post's Yahoo article gives a chronology that is badly out of order, so I inserted the proper sequence. Read it 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. It explains Miles' up and down physical conditioning--why some posters saw him in good form, and others saw him a couple of months later looking fat.



Yahoo said:


> (2) Miles’ last game as a Blazer was on April 15, 2006. (1) He had returned from an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee earlier in that season, probably sooner than he should have. (3) When he returned to camp in the fall, the knee was still giving him problems and he underwent the serious microfracture procedure in November. That ended the 2006-07 season. (5) But he missed all of last season as well, even though his personal trainer/strength-and-conditioning coach, Robin Pound, said all the progress reports presented to the Portland medical team were positive. “At our last meeting,” Pound recalled, “they told Darius, ‘the only thing left now is for you to go back to the team.”
> 
> (4) Pound had been hired by Portland in 2007 to specifically rehab Miles. He had him for several months. (6) The Blazers let Pound go last December, a week after a final meeting with Portland’s medical team. But Miles never did go back to the team. He had an Achilles’ strain which set him back. When the Blazers finally waived Miles, he reconnected with Pound in Phoenix, enduring two-a-day workouts, the first of which started at 7 a.m.
> 
> ...


Would it be possible to have a lighter shade of orange in the quote box, for more legibility?


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## KingSpeed (Oct 30, 2003)

NateBishop3 said:


> Darius really is a nice guy. He just doesn't care much about basketball.


The dude said he'd be willing to play for nothing. What about that did you not get?


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## Nate4Prez (Jun 3, 2007)

ProZach said:


> Darius never showed any heart on any of the teams he played for, and now, because of his unfortunate injury, he faces the prospect of losing his incredibly blessed lifestyle forever and so he's suddenly willing to put out.


No he does not face losing an incredibly blessed life style, he is still going to receive $18 million whether he plays or not. As contrary to your whole argument, Darius Miles never has to play basketball or work ever again. He is not suddenly willing to put out because he needs a pay check or because his lifestyle is in danger. Miles wants to play, and he wants to be part of something, and he lost that chance with Portland and is trying to earn it somewhere else.


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## KingSpeed (Oct 30, 2003)

Will we add Darius to the Rider-Sheed-Clyde list of Blazers who got a ring after leaving Portland?


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## taterz (Sep 14, 2007)

KingSpeed said:


> The dude said he'd be willing to play for nothing. What about that did you not get?


He's not really playing for nothing, we are paying him 9mil a year. Just because he said he would play for nothing doesnt really mean anything because he didnt sign with Boston for nothing. Also if he just gave up and never attempted basketball again he would never make another NBA dollar again after his contract runs out, if he proves that he still has something he can make a few mill a year for the next 5-10 years and possibly ride the bench to a NBA ring. 

I wish Miles all the luck in the world, but I am glad he is no longer a part of our organization.


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## ProZach (Oct 13, 2005)

Nate4Prez said:


> No he does not face losing an incredibly blessed life style, he is still going to receive $18 million whether he plays or not. As contrary to your whole argument, Darius Miles never has to play basketball or work ever again. He is not suddenly willing to put out because he needs a pay check or because his lifestyle is in danger. Miles wants to play, and he wants to be part of something, and he lost that chance with Portland and is trying to earn it somewhere else.


Clearly I'm not referring to the money he's already going to recieve. I'm referring to his celebrity status and all the other perks that come from being a professional basketball player, as well as any other future paychecks he'd recieve, as opposed to fading into obscurity with what he has now.


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## World B. Free (Mar 28, 2008)

KingSpeed said:


> Will we add Darius to the Rider-Sheed-Clyde list of Blazers who got a ring after leaving Portland?


Um no. The Celtics will have to get passed us first.

I am calling it in this thread. We are in the WCF this year and will beat the Lakers in 7. Celtics down in 4 in the Finals and we get the ring.


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## nikolokolus (Jan 29, 2008)

World B. Free said:


> Um no. The Celtics will have to get passed us first.
> 
> I am calling it in this thread. We are in the WCF this year and will beat the Lakers in 7. Celtics down in 4 in the Finals and we get the ring.


Shoot, there's no "smoking a crack pipe" emoticon on this forum ...


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