Darius Miles was a high school prodigy and one of the most sought after NBA prospects of all time.
The 6ft 9in slashing forward was an athletic freak and a walking bucket that had tons of hype leading up to the 2000 NBA Draft.
The then-18-year-old phenomenon became the highest-ever NBA draft pick to come straight out of high school when he joined the Los Angeles Clippers with the third overall pick in 2000.
He was a First Team NBA All-Rookie in 2001, a first for a prep-to-pro player, and was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002 where he was joined by LeBron James a year later.
Miles and LeBron were said to be close friends, but the organization traded the former to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2004, who inked him to a six-year, $48 million deal.
However, he endured a tumultuous time in Portland.
In January 2005, Miles was suspended for two games after a verbal clash with coach Maurice Cheeks.
Miles was also later suspended for 10 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Late in the 2005–2006 season, Miles severely injured his right knee, and missed the entire 2006–07 and 2007–08 NBA seasons due to microfracture surgery to repair the injury.
The mercurial small forward briefly returned to play for the Boston Celtics in the pre-season and for the Memphis Grizzlies, but by 2009 his NBA career was over.
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Miles never lived up to expectations but still earned roughly $62 million in total salary during his nine-year NBA career.
In addition to his NBA earnings, Miles also signed an endorsement deal with Nike, and he even acted in a pair of movies, 2002′s ‘Van Wilder,’ with Ryan Reynolds, and the 2004 teen heist movie ‘The Perfect Score,’ which starred Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans.
However, in 2016, the then-35-year-old had blown through all of his fortune and filed for bankruptcy.
Miles wrote about his sudden rise to fame and fortune in a 2018 article for The Players’ Tribune. He noted that his financial woes had been exacerbated by years of depression following his mother’s death from cancer in 2013.
Miles revealed that he was given too much too soon and it was more than his teenage self could handle.
“When you’re young, you think the money is gonna last forever,” Miles wrote. “I don’t care how street smart you are, or who you got in your corner, when you go from not having anything to making millions of dollars at 18, 19 years old, you’re not going to be prepared for it.”
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Miles also explained that it wasn’t “buying Ferraris'” that caused him to lose all of his money.
Rather, it was a string of failed investments and “shady business deals” that took their toll on his financial stability.
“They’ll make the money disappear quick,” he said of the deals.
According to reports, Miles listed a $20,000 child support debt in his bankruptcy. He listed $460,385 in assets and $1.57 million in liabilities and also lost more than $100,000 in 2008 in a California real estate deal.
After declaring bankruptcy, Miles was forced to auction off many of his belongings in order to raise money to pay off his debts. The auction included items of sports memorabilia including an autographed LeBron jersey that sold for $1,500.
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In 2023, he was given three years’ probation by a Manhattan District Judge, and reportedly avoided a prison sentence after pleading guilty for his participation in a fraud scheme aimed at the league’s healthcare plan.
After filing for bankruptcy, Miles moved to Florida to live near his friend and former teammate, Quentin Richardson.
Since 2019, the pair have co-hosted The Knuckleheads podcast, associated with The Players’ Tribune, which sees them interview former and current professional basketball players from the perspective of ex-NBA players.
Miles’ case is a cautionary tale of a young athlete being given millions of dollars but being unable to handle the inevitable bells and whistles that come with it.
Fortunately, his life now seems to be on a more positive track.
