
What the hell happened to Darius Miles? - ribasushi
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/what-the-hell-happened-to-darius-miles
======
majos
The Players' Tribune does some cool stuff. Like others mention, the amount of
ghostwriting is unclear, but the pieces all feel faithful (and accurate) to
the subject. They are never hagiographic, and while there's some amount of
bravado in almost all of them (I mean, they're former sports stars), it is
always tempered by honesty, and often regret. Maybe HN is less likely to
assign much weight to what athletes say, but these are pretty unvarnished
accounts from people who, by and large, became _world-class_ at something tons
of people try. They have interesting things to say.

Some other good pieces are NBA player Dion Waiters' freewheeling account of
his life so far [1], former NBA player Steve Francis's bizarre path to and
from stardom [2] (an interesting complement to teammate Yao Ming's
entertaining account of his own rookie year [3]), and for a rather darker and
more harrowing (but also quite moving) story, former NHL player Clint
Malarchuk's account of his infamous on-ice injury and its (extensive)
consequences [4].

[1] [https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/dion-
waiter...](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/dion-waiters-
miami-heat-nba-is-lucky)

[2] [https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/steve-
franc...](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/steve-francis-i-
got-a-story-to-tell)

[3] [https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/yao-ming-
my...](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/yao-ming-my-rookie-
year-rockets-china)

[4] [https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/clint-
malar...](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/clint-malarchuk-
bleeding-out)

~~~
ISL
It might be pure hometown bias, but this article by Sue Bird immediately comes
to mind when I think of the Player's Tribune:
[https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/sue-bird-
se...](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/sue-bird-seattle-
storm)

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wildermuthn
I work at The Players’ Tribune, leading a small team of engineers, and I never
thought I’d see one of our articles on the front page of HN.

Our mission is connecting fans and athletes, and our long-form articles do a
great job of that. We’re also exploring how technology can create even deeper
connections and more compelling experiences. Would love to hear thoughts on
this from the HN crowd.

~~~
dorchadas
If you could incorporate a reading of this, by Darius (and Quentin for his
parts), that'd be amazing. I'd love to not only see the athletes write long-
form articles about themselves, but to _hear_ them talk about it. I feel like
there's just so much more emotion that comes through, even when they do write
in a colloquial style like this one, which does showcase a lot of emotion.

~~~
wildermuthn
Thanks! There’s been some conjecture about Alexa and narrating articles. I
think it is definitely worth an experiment.

You’re right about the emotional connection being an essential element. We’ve
ramped up our video production over the last year, and I’m intrigued by the
possibilities of live-streaming video. Especially as an ongoing conversation
following up on an initial article. I’m curious if opening up a dialogue
between an athlete and readers would be more (or less) emotionally engaging,
and what forms would work best.

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graeme
If you start reading this, pause and think "is this my sort of thing"....I
strongly encourage you to go back and keep reading.

Wonderful article, but easy to jump by if you're in Hacker News skim mode like
I was.

~~~
sophacles
Thanks, I started reading, thought "Oh I'm not really a basketball person".
Saw your comment and decided to give it another go, and I'm glad I did. For
others wondering why - It's an insightful story about being in over your head
and depression by a guy who played pro ball, rather than a story about pro
ball.

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acjohnson55
When the Players Tribune started, I thought it was gonna be garbage. It's
soooo good. At least the handful of pieces I've read. I know there's a lot of
ghostwriting. But I don't really care because the end product is compelling.

~~~
ericcholis
I agree. I really appreciate the fact that there's similar through-lines
between the major sports. So many of these athletes are treated like
superheros we forget that they've got their own struggles and triumphs like
everybody else. It comes with a strong air of honesty too. There's been a
number of articles that touch on my hometown teams (Buffalo Bills and Sabres)
that make me respect the athletes even more for being so truthful.

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swozey
This is such a great read. For those who don't know (I didn't) East St Louis
is in Illinois, across the bridge (Eads?) is St Louis. Never been to Illinois.
Most I know about it is it's not actually windy and Chicagos there.

I spent a lot of time in the projects in Virginia (Hampton/Norfolk), places
like Lincoln Park. My friends were living it rough, I got to see it from the
outside when I'd bike over to play Gameboy. They had to come to my house to
play Sega, they didn't have tvs or if they did no games. I can't imagine
Darius' life.

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whack
Wow. The way he described his childhood felt surreal. The only thing I had to
worry about as a kid, was classes and high-school drama. I literally never
once worried for my life or physical safety. It's insane that some kids in
America, one of the richest countries in the world, have to grow up in an
environment like that.

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ambicapter
> “Look at these boys! Look at my beautiful boys!”

I mean we all know at this point that Donald Sterling is/was racist, but holy
fuck the sliminess of the plantation owner vibe I get from this quote.

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epynonymous
i didn't think much of darius miles back then, he could definitely dunk, but i
didn't see him as an upcoming star, the guy flat out couldn't shoot the j and
sometimes he made some really bad decisions on the court, so i didn't have
much respect for him, didn't think he was the brainiest of the players.

but this article changes everything, i think he's quite articulate, if this
was really written by him and reviewed by q, it's not a bad piece of work,
never mind the ebonics, but it's not half bad at all.

i think a lot of fans don't realize the punishment professional athletes take
on their bodies, surgeries that normal folks would probably forego and instead
wait to heal at their own pace. obviously professional athletes get
compensated for this, but it's still quite taxing, look at all the scars grant
hill has from his multiple ankle and knee surgeries, walking just isn't the
same anymore. but i'm sure most people would give up their right arm for the
chance at a few years in the nba on those salaries.

~~~
55555
I would assume that most of these stories are ghostwritten. After all, you
dont make it to the NBA by spending your time reading and writing... Great
story, though.

~~~
avip
Listen to Jalen Rose to soften that prejudice. He’s better as a podcaster than
he was on the hoops.

~~~
goatherders
Playfully I disagree. Jalen was an amazing player and his junior year at
Michigan is perhaps my favorite college season of any player. He had a coast
to coast dunk in the great 8 (game they lost) that was...perfect.

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slics
WoW. I can only say this from the bottom of my heart. It takes courage,
persistence and a hell lot of dedication to pull yourself up, especially when
everyone else is trying to pull you down. God Bless you man. Fist Up!

------
goatherders
I am an nba crazy person and vividly remember those guys and that era. It was
a thing. That team with those two and Odem showed glimpses of being the future
of basketball. It was easy to cheer for them because they seemed like good
dudes just having fun. Great article.

~~~
toasterlovin
My dad had partial Clipper season tickets (because Laker tickets are obscenely
expensive and Clipper tickets were dirt cheap at the time) when these guys
started playing. Before them, the team was a joke. The people who went to the
games we’re just there to see whichever team the Clippers were playing
against. There were like 12 actual Clipper fans and everybody would look at
each other and go, “What kind of a weirdo wears a Clipper jersey?”.

But these guys changed everything. There was this incredible energy at the
games. There were real fans. Little kids whose favorite player of all time was
a Clipper. It was surreal. And so, so much fun.

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dopeboy
I grew up in SoCal in the early 2000s and I distinctly remember how _fun_ the
Clips were to watch. They were heavily overshadowed by the Lakers and no one
really expected them to win. But they were entertaining.

This is a story that mostly focuses on the come up rather than the come down.
It must have been a hell of a run to become a multimillionaire teenager and
work out of LA, no less. The anecdotes with Alonzo, MJ, and Shaq are
hilarious. I could totally see Shaq doing something like that. I hope Miles
can parlay that history and access into something cool for his future.

There's an interesting point both of them make about social media; I'm not
sure I believe it. I imagine it's just as fun and wild to be a teenage NBA
player was it was in the early 2000s.

Props to Miles for speaking out about his depression. Kevin Love and I think
Lowry have been open about their struggles. We're all human, NBA players or
not.

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loso
I read this the other day and thought it was an interesting story. I find some
of the troll comments on here just as interesting. When I read it originally,
the style of writing didn't even cross my mind. I could tell it was
conversational. And seeing that Darius Miles is a little younger than me we
use the same type of slang in conversation. At least around friends.

When I'm at work it's a different ball game. Like anybody else I try to sound
more professional. But I find it amusing that some people are saying that the
story doesn't read like English. It's a little hard to take them seriously.

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simonsaidit
I have no idea who this guy is or any interest in basketball but couldn’t stop
reading. Awesome!

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joe_momma
Wow spent that last 20 min reading the whole thing glued to wonder what did
happen to Darius Miles. His mom was awesome and understandably a reason to be
depressed, at the end of the day all you got is your family.

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mcnichol
Seriously incredible...I know nothing about basketball but he has a way with
words that made the whole story unfold in full color.

Heartbreaking in parts, glad to see something like this on HN.

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JDWolf
This is great. I liked the early 2000s Clippers and many times have asked what
happened to Darius Miles. First NBA game I went to was Clippers vs. Lakers
with this group.

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bredren
I have a Darius Miles Trailblazer jersey from when he was on our team. Just
saying.

~~~
sdotsen
You play for the Trailblazer?

~~~
bredren
No, I live in Rip City.

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mindfulplay
Really awesome article. Felt real and touching.

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zhte415
Fantastic story.

~~~
buzzdenver
Yes, and think about it, how concise it was. I got the same out of reading
this 10-minute article as if he had a 250 page autobiography.

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emilfihlman
The article flowed, I liked reading it.

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mrcsparker
This is really well written.

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gdubs
Started reading, couldn't stop. A lot of the tone-deaf comments here seem to
be missing the point that growing up where Miles did might as well be a
different country. It's about _culture_ – and looking down on someone just
because they talk different is ignorant. And you do yourself a disservice by
missing out on a piece of writing that is pretty fantastic. Is it relevant
here? Of course. It's about making it in America; and all the ups, and downs,
and inequalities involved.

~~~
dorchadas
> It's about culture – and looking down on someone just because they talk
> different is ignorant.

It's a shame, but linguistic discrimination is super common, and there doesn't
seem to be much of a trend to change that. Likely because of education forcing
the idea there's "One True English" (TM) and that if you didn't learn it
you're dumb...Despite the fact nobody learns it natively, and you have to
actually _learn_ it, not acquire like your native dialect...So it all comes
down to proper education, and did you learn when to use it, etc. Linguistic
register is a nice term for everyone to Google.

