Darius Miles story in today's Tribune

by leeroyjenkins on Jul 10, 2007 10:24 AM PDT

What do we make of this?

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=118401287864845700

"* Last month, 5-year-old Ethan Hansen was camping at Elks Park near Mulino when a large limb from a cottonwood tree fell on his tent. Three days later, Ethan died at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital of head injuries from the blow.

Two days later, Jeff Wechsler, the agent for Darius Miles, contacted the family and asked if the Blazer forward - whose wife, Brandi, is expecting their first child - could provide assistance. Miles had never met the boy nor his family but offered to pay for Ethan's funeral and memorial services.

"We were all so shocked by this," a family friend, Margi Seitz, tells the Tigard Times. "He was touched by this story ... only the Lord knows why (Miles) has chosen to do this, but it is very much needed and greatly appreciated. There really are no words."

There really aren't."

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Wow

I forget that outside of basketball Darius doesn't suck. Good for him, doing some good things for Portlanders. I know we pay his salary (basically) but he still didn't have to do that at all, I just told my wife this story and she said "aaawwwwww".

I am the master of my fate, I am the Captain of my soul. - Charles Wesley

by Earl on Jul 10, 2007 10:30 AM PDT reply actions

People are complicated

It's far too easy to paint them in black and white.

Rasheed is well known for being a generally good guy outside of basketball--he does (or has in the past) liked the loopy lettuce, but other than that he's reportedly a good father and supports causes in the community. Darius is reportedly a nice guy outside of hoops, too.

by EngineerScotty on Jul 10, 2007 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions

Exactly

"People are complicated." That's a great way to put it. People are very rarely "bad" or "good."

by jksnake99 on Jul 10, 2007 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions

I agree

but would add that perhaps Darius Miles is becoming older and wiser. I don't imagine he would have responded to this tragedy in such a caring manner a year or two ago. Having his child on the way plus experiencing setbacks in his own life could be making him a better person. Perhaps that will translate to making him a better teammate and basketball player.

by bbfred on Jul 10, 2007 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions

Having a child did wonders for me

I went from caring about me, me, and me to caring about a lot of other people. I wonder if a child is having the same effect on Darius.

by leeroyjenkins on Jul 10, 2007 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Same for me...

I used to care about me, me, me, too. Now, all I care about is Darius...

Ball Don't Lie

by bothteamsplayedhard on Jul 10, 2007 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions

I read a Blazers article recently . . .

. . . I forget where it was, but it worked the whole Jail-Blazers-are-pretty-much-gone angle.
In mentioning Darius, as so often happened it referred to his "off-the-court troubles".

He's NEVER had "off the court" troubles! His problems have been
totally on the court, in the locker room, and at practice and film sessions!
He's got no record of criminal offenses, public mishaps, domestic disturbance,
or anything else along those off-the-court, bad-citizen, troubled-as-a-HUMAN lines.

Bad team guy, but good CITIZEN. The record bears that out.
(And as a Bad Team Guy, I still want him gone, ASAP.)

Blazers have a five-on-three...and they pull it back and wait for help.

by QualityPie on Jul 10, 2007 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions

thats funny

but I am sure there is something else

by myemic23 on Jul 10, 2007 5:29 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm no Miles fan

But I'll give him props for this.

I have a young son myself and I remember feeling pretty emotional when I read that story about the branch falling on the poor kid. That could have been any of us.

So despite how I feel about Miles, this is awesome on his part. Just aweseome.

by leeroyjenkins on Jul 10, 2007 10:42 AM PDT reply actions

The best part of this is..

That Miles appeared to do it quietly, through his agent. If this really was Darius's idea, it shows a lot of class not going through the media to score points. Although I do wonder who reported this to the trib. The family??

by myemic23 on Jul 10, 2007 11:59 AM PDT reply actions

People are often more than 1 thing

The best thing about is that he could do so quietly. It's not like he's announcing it to the world that he's doing it. Eggers barely mentions it and leaves it at that. Gotta give Miles credit for doing a good thing. Regardless of what he is elsewhere or on the court.

Who needs Greg Oden? We got Pete Carril....

by pookeyguru on Jul 10, 2007 12:13 PM PDT reply actions

I heard this probably week ago

can't remember where, maybe K103 radio. So the info has been out there awhile, just not in wide circulation.

The accident itself touched home because we camped in that park when my son was five. Such a scary thing.

by jorga on Jul 10, 2007 12:46 PM PDT reply actions

People ARE complicated

One thing I don't like about today's news is that it's black or white and the shades of grey are ignored because you can't fit that in a five second sound bite.

I do wonder about the fact it made it into the paper though. It seems so many things are planted now and with a secondary motive in mind, it's hard not to be skeptical.

Still... a good deed is a good deed and that was pretty cool. At least he cares enough to do it, staged or not. I think this probably is honest though.

still curious about how it became news though.

Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

by ratbastird on Jul 10, 2007 1:31 PM PDT reply actions

I'm guessing the family

Also Kerry Eggers digs up a lot of nuggets that the O, and even Quick don't always have.

by leeroyjenkins on Jul 10, 2007 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions

The world would be a better place ...

if the "haves" did things like this more often. Good for Darius.

by bfan on Jul 10, 2007 1:44 PM PDT reply actions

I have

always felt Darius was an OK person who makes some stupid decisions at times. This was a very nice gesture.

by blazerprophet on Jul 10, 2007 2:15 PM PDT reply actions

Similar story

A few months back I saw Miles coming out of the Rite Aid downtown, the one always surrounded by encampments of homeless street kids. I think anyone who spends enough time in downtown PDX develops an acute ability to filter out all panhandling bums, and just bypass that type without a thought.
But Darius came out of the store, saw a homeless guy sitting there, and without even being asked, pulled out a huge wad of bills and handed it to the guy. There were no cameras around, no agent in his ear, not even a crowd of people to impress.
Even more, he bent over and gave the guy some words of encouragement.
Needless to say, this changed my impression of Miles, being so starkly in contrast with the way he's usually portrayed in the media. And now hearing this story, it seems like it wasn't an isolated incident.

by Praisebecrom on Jul 10, 2007 2:23 PM PDT reply actions

Okay,

I'm touched. East St Louis sucks, and nobody makes it out of that hell hole emotionally intact. I just became a DMiles fan.

It took the follow up story of the Drug store to push me past being a cynic, but i've arrived. Here's hoping that he is healed six months from now and Nate's hard coaching on a team (Darius' first) that works and works will make him the come back story of the year in two seasons. If I remember, he was a hard working defender back in the day....

by ojala on Jul 10, 2007 3:23 PM PDT reply actions

I sure like it.

Darius has always seemed like a good, genuine, and generous person. It's just the laziness, and occasional basketball related incidents that I take exception to. It's not as if you can't be good in one arena and bad in another. Obviously Darius seems to be one of those people that you want to be wealthy because he does give back... has some humility, etc. Now, how much longer is he a Blazer for? Anyone shopping for that player who is a locker room problem but an off-court Saint? We have one, just contact KP.

by drawingjeremy on Jul 10, 2007 5:16 PM PDT reply actions