Darius Miles Took Diet Pills

by Ben Golliver on Jul 19, 2008 11:45 AM PDT

Marc Stein from ESPN breaks the news. Read the story here. Here's the quote.

Sources say that all 30 teams were notified this week by league memorandum that the drug which earned Portland Trail Blazers castoff Darius Miles a 10-game suspension to start next season -- if Miles can find a job -- is the appetite suppressant phentermine.

A weight-loss drug, basically.

Steep as a 10-game ban is, then, Miles' choice is nothing bound to scare teams away from signing him. Miles has tried out for at least four clubs already this month -- Boston, Dallas, New Jersey and Phoenix -- and is expected to command no more than a minimum salary anyway in his comeback from longstanding knee problems because the 26-year-old still has $18 million in salary coming from the Portland Trail Blazers.

The weight of this story is just too much for me. I'm at a loss for words.

UPDATE: Here's some information about phentermine courtesy of wikipedia

It is approved as an appetite suppressant to help reduce weight in obese patients when used short-term and combined with exercise, diet, and behavioral modification. It is typically prescribed for individuals who are at increased medical risk because of their weight and works by helping to release certain chemicals in the brain that control appetite.

...

Generally, phentermine appears to be relatively well tolerated. It can produce side effects consistent with its catecholamine-releasing properties, e.g., tachycardia (increased heart rate) and elevated blood pressure, but the incidence and magnitude of these appear to be less than with the amphetamines. Because phentermine acts through sympathomimetic pathways, the drug may increase blood pressure and heart rate. It may also cause palpitations, restlessness, and insomnia. Additionally, phentermine has the potential to cause physical and psychological dependence.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

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Comments

Too damn funny

This is the kind of stuff you just can’t make up.

Bayless4Ever

by Sabonis4Ever on Jul 19, 2008 11:51 AM PDT reply actions

Jeez

Maybe the NBA’s drug program is a bit strict. Ten days for a weight loss drug for a dude trying to come back from a two year hiatus due to injury? That seems pretty steep.

I don’t really care which recreational drugs an NBA player uses, but I do care about those that might give a competitive advantage like HGH, steroids or whatever the heck Bonds took. If Miles is trying to get rid of the junk in his trunk, why should the NBA penalize him?

by torsoheap on Jul 19, 2008 11:57 AM PDT reply actions

uh

Can a drug test differentiate between these types of diet pills and other stimulants? I suspect so, and banning things like this is pretty much the only recourse the league has unless they allow stimulants wholesale.

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 19, 2008 2:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Not 10 days

10 games. Almost a month.

by jamon51 on Jul 19, 2008 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Gah

You’re right. I meant 10 games.

by torsoheap on Jul 19, 2008 6:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Groan

“The weight of this story is just too much for me. I’m at a loss for words.” Oh Ben . . .

by Corvid on Jul 19, 2008 12:04 PM PDT reply actions

lol

"You'd rather say 'whoa' than 'giddyup.'" ~ Dean Demopoulos

by Ben Golliver on Jul 19, 2008 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions

thanks for getting the skinny on this story, Ben.

by 50backflips on Jul 21, 2008 7:42 AM PDT up reply actions

If it were me

I would have suspended him 10 games for all of the cheesecake and Krispy Kremes he downed to necessitate the diet pills in the first place.

—Dave

by Dave on Jul 19, 2008 1:03 PM PDT reply actions

Right! Performance inhibitors!

by shralpster on Jul 19, 2008 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions

this is getting annoying

I’m starting to feel like we’ll be on the hook for his salary, which really pisses me off. If he’s able to come back I feel like we should have kept him all along so we could have had a DMEC next year to use after using our RELEC this year.

myspace.com/marktwainindians

by mark twain on Jul 19, 2008 1:29 PM PDT reply actions

i meant RLEC

myspace.com/marktwainindians

by mark twain on Jul 19, 2008 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions

If he comes back on the cap number, we still will have DMEC to use next year.

The only thing the Blazers have lost is D Miles in the locker room sucking up a roster spot.

by raoulduke on Jul 19, 2008 2:28 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't think we can trade a contract

that we have waived/bought out. You have never heard anyone mention us offering SFEC (Steve Francis) contract to teams this year.

Gimmicks don't make dynasties

by WarEaglePDX on Jul 19, 2008 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Isn't that because we bought his contract out?

Have we done that with Miles’ contract or is the insurance still paying for part of it?

Beaver believer!

by mannyfresh1 on Jul 19, 2008 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions

But the amount they are paying him still comes off the payroll and clears cap space...

by raoulduke on Jul 19, 2008 5:28 PM PDT up reply actions

nope

that contract is not for trade, it’s bought out, done, out of our hands. We’re simply on the hook for it and it goes against our cap space, but we can’t trade it.

myspace.com/marktwainindians

by mark twain on Jul 19, 2008 3:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Amazing

As long as he got them legally and took them supervised I don’t understand the ban. I suppose it’s because it is a controlled substance. Sheesh.

"We will do nice things!" - Rudy, 07/01/08

by jorga on Jul 19, 2008 1:41 PM PDT reply actions

i hear you

i guess the issue is they are similar to a stimulant/amphetamine. maybe we have some pharmacists reading this who can help explain?

"You'd rather say 'whoa' than 'giddyup.'" ~ Dean Demopoulos

by Ben Golliver on Jul 19, 2008 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions

He needed them

I saw him a few times during his “rehab”. which consisted of big macs and cold stone. He BLIMPED UP.

by exSTUNTER on Jul 19, 2008 1:50 PM PDT reply actions

90% of these guys

Who are 6’8”, 200+ pounds (or whatever D-Miles is) are pretty much on the road to being 400 pounds in their 40’s and 50’s. The only thing keeping them skinny is the demands of working out. If D-Miles isn’t working out (and its tough when everyone is telling you your career is over) then he’s got a reasonable fear of putting on alot of pounds fast. So I understand why he’d do something like that even if there were ‘better’ options (ie, staying in better shape).

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 19, 2008 2:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I imagine

that a couple of knee surgeries means quite a bit of couch time as well.

by torsoheap on Jul 19, 2008 2:58 PM PDT up reply actions

no joke

look at Duckworth now, he’s a mess.

myspace.com/marktwainindians

by mark twain on Jul 19, 2008 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions

First time i´ve read "Miles has tried out for at least four night clubs already this month..."

What was i thinking about man?

If i´m be a GM i will worry about someone who hasn´t willpower enough to stop eating without using drugs.

The Midnight Rambler

by amlmart1 on Jul 19, 2008 2:04 PM PDT reply actions

I just don't like the example he is setting for the children.

--. --- | -... .-.. .- --.. . .-. ...

by tominhawaii on Jul 19, 2008 4:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Somehow the steroids rumor was better than this

A diet pill for a professional athlete? Maybe for the couch potato. With steroids you could possibly have an legitimate understanding due to quicker rehab purposes. A diet pill? Really Miles?

BINGO, BANGO, BONGO

by blzrfan on Jul 19, 2008 2:18 PM PDT reply actions

Shawn Kemp = Darius Miles

Project.

Who cares about the salary cap issues? Miles out of Portland is better than anything else.

These threads about Miles are getting ridiculous… do you think Paul Allen is even thinking twice about this when you Roy, Aldridge and Oden on your roster???

by hotstuffdb22 on Jul 19, 2008 2:50 PM PDT reply actions

Paul Allen's money is not the issue

As I see it, the potential negative ramifications from this have little to do with Allen’s $ or its possible impact on the salary cap. The Blazers’ whole handling of this situation, post release, has been ham-handed at best, or downright shady at worst.

Until we definitively learn how the news of Miles’ substance abuse suspension was leaked, it very much looks like it was a ploy by the Blazer front office to prevent other teams from offering Darius a deal. Had the substance in question been something like coke, weed or ‘roids, the Blazers might have been able to deflect much of the blame for the leak back on to Darius himself. They might have been able to reframe the narrative as one about Darius’ character flaws rather than the Portland front office acting in bad faith.

But now that we’ve learned that Miles’ suspension is for a freakin’ diet drug, it bolsters the perception that the Blazers are employing underhanded tactics to prevent a player who still wants to play from getting a fair opportunity with another team. A player whose big crime now seems to be that he cut corners in his efforts to work himself back into basketball shape. While many of you Blazer fans may not see any wrongdoing in the way your team might have handled this, this kind of thing will not go unnoticed by other players – both on the team and around the Association. If the perception takes hold that the Blazers deliberately attempted to derail Darius’ comeback, Portland could potentially have a difficult time attracting outside free agents – or maybe even resigning their own.

by knickfan on Jul 19, 2008 4:50 PM PDT up reply actions

I think the worst the organization has done in this whole miles thing....

is the way they kept talking about reintegrating him back into the team. It seemed pretty clear to anyone paying attention to this team that that was NOT what management was trying to do. They wanted him out (and who could blame them), crossed their fingers for some financial relieve that the career ending injury designation would bring, and then waved him as soon as they got it. Now that they have done that, and Miles isn’t a problem for our team anymore (except for the financial ramifications if he does return), I don’t really see them scheming to derail his comeback. KP talked with Mike Barret a little about the subject the other day and it sounded like he may have been a little torn about what to think. It’s obviously not good for the Blazers if he should return and play in 10 games or more, but is that really reason enough to root for this man do go down in shame when he has aspirations of making it back? I hope for Miles sake, and the sake of his family (he wants his newborn to see him play again one day) that he has turned it around and can play again. So we take a salary cap hit (or maybe not, I’m not sure anymore), we have a bright future ahead of us anyway, and there’s no good reason why I can’t hope Miles has one as well.

If this were to happen, I don’t see it reflecting negatively on the Blazers organization. I think they did make an effort to help Miles recover (even if they never wanted to put him back in a Blazer uniform), and it was an independent doctor that deemed his injury career ending. The only thing that could really hurt us, or at least give me a much more negative feeling toward KP and the rest of the management, is if they really ARE taking steps to derail his comeback effort. I think that would be way too low, and not the kind of “culture” KP has been preaching about since he took over.

So this is probably the most pro-Miles post you’ll see here but there it is. If Miles can become the first player ever to come back for a “career ending injury” good for him. It might mean that we were all wrong about his work ethic (goodness knows that MUST take a lot of hard work) but so what? Ok, he DOES love basketball enough to work hard for it after all, big deal, we’ve got a good team anyway. GO BLAZERS. Go Miles.

Peace.

by MattyDread on Jul 19, 2008 5:41 PM PDT up reply actions

For me, the crucial question in this whole saga is

How did knowledge of Miles’ 10-game suspension for substance abuse become public?

This is not information that should have ever been put out there for all of us to see. Since we’re talking about a player who is retired and not subject to the same rules as an active NBA player, one would think he should have the same expectation of confidentiality as any other private citizen. Word of his suspension could have – and should have – been handled discreetly between the league and any teams that may have been interested in giving him a tryout.

If it does come out that the Blazers were the party responsible for leaking word of Miles’ suspension to the public-at-large, I’m afraid it would reflect extremely poorly on the team. Not only would they have violated Miles’ right to have his medical information kept private, but it would appear to have been done with the intent of deterring other teams from giving him a chance. Even if this was not the Blazers’ motivation, it would be extremely difficult for them to put a positive spin on their actions if it is later confirmed that it was the team who made the leak public.

by knickfan on Jul 19, 2008 6:21 PM PDT up reply actions

This was a press leak.

Somebody in the league (maybe with the Blazers, maybe not), leaked the info to Jason Quick, the Oregonian’s beat writer and he published it in an article thereafter.

If it was somebody in the Blazers organization, then I do think they acted unethically, but this would VERY, VERY hard to prove short of a criminal investigation and a subpoena, and we all know how reporters generally act when told to give up their sources, they clam up.

by nikolokolus on Jul 19, 2008 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions

You are right, partly

You are right about the crucial question. But your prior post in effect accuses the Blazers organization of being the source of the leak, and of them being ham-handed at best.

You can only accuse them of being ham-handed if they did, in fact, leak it.

The fact is, it could have been an inadvertent mention by a relatively low-level Blazer employee. It could have come from someone who knows Darius. It could have been a Blazer player letting it slip. It could have been someone in the league office who doesn’t like Darius—he’s not the kind of guy who is on best terms with everyone. Perhaps someone let it slip to Mo Cheeks and he picked up the phone and called Quick.

Your comments here are really only valid if the Blazers at an administrative level made a decision to put this out there. If they did that, it smells very, very bad. But there are so many other ways this could have come out.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jul 20, 2008 7:19 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm confused about "the leak"

I was under the impression that other teams learned about his suspension from the league offices, not from the Blazers. To quote Henry Abbott: "My own sources tell me that the NBA e-mailed the thirty teams, confidentially, to tell them Miles had violated the anti-drug policy and would be suspended ten games. So the teams knew."

Possibly it was a Blazers employee who played a role in giving confidential medical information to Quick, so the Blazers MAY have had something with the leak to the public. But the other teams knew about the suspension from the NBA offices before they asked Darius to work out for them.

Henry’s column was ten days ago. Did I missed something, leak-wise?

The whole situation is bizarre. It’s getting stranger by the day.

by Corvid on Jul 19, 2008 6:02 PM PDT up reply actions