Darius Miles Shares His Battle With Depression Through The Players’ Tribune

Photo Credit – Los Angeles Clippers

Last week former NBA standout Darius Miles shared with the world through the Players’ Tribune, that he went through a time where he was dealing with depression. After the passing of his mother, not too long after he left the NBA.

“Dudes like me ain’t supposed to talk about this type of stuff,” said Miles. “I’m about to tell you some real s–t.”

The Los Angeles Clippers draft Miles right out of high school with the third overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. He would retire nine years later at the age of 27 years old due to knee injuries. During his nine-year career, Miles played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies, but would go on to file for bankruptcy in 2016.

When his mother died shared with the Tribune, that he was broken:

“When she died, I ain’t gonna lie, it broke me,” wrote Miles. He would end up staying in his mother house for three years and ignored friends and family attempts to reach out to check on him. He would later become nocturnal and paranoid. He had also lost a lot of money on bad business deals and would carry a firearm at all times.

“The worst part was that I had people who owed me a lot of money, and I just got to a point where I saw red, for real,” he wrote. “I felt like I was gonna hurt somebody, or I was gonna wind up in jail.”

Earlier this summer Miles spoke with Basketball Society’s Brandon ” Scoop B” Robinson, about the infamous verbal altercation with Hall of Famer Mo Cheeks during their time in Portland. The event in question started during a team film session, where Miles according to reports insulted Cheeks and made the remark “I did not care if the team were to lose the next 20 games” since Cheeks was “going to be fired anyway.”

Cheeks asked Miles to leave, Miles’ responded by saying: “Make me.” Cheeks would leave the room to consult Blazers’ general manager John Nash at the time. Miles would follow behind Cheeks, and screamed: “That’s right, run to your daddy.”

“Stuff like that shouldn’t even have left the locker room,” Darius Miles told Robinson “But you know it is what it is. There was never no beef.”

Both Miles and Cheeks have made peace since the incident years ago, according to Miles. “In the NBA it’s politics,” he said. “His job was on the line, I was frustrated we were losing.”

The interview with Miles and Robinson can be seen here.

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

Tags: Basketball Society, Boston Celtics, Brandon Scoop B Robinson, Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Miles, Depression, Landon Buford, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, mental health, Mo Cheeks, NBA, Players Tribune, Portland Trail Blazers, The Hype Magazine

About the Author

Landon Buford Washington State Graduate Past Interviews include Grammy Award Winner Kenny G, David Banner, WNBA President Lisa Borders, What's Trending's CEO Shira Lazar, Ice Cube, NBC's Chicago PD LaRoyce Hawkins, Family Matters Darius McCrary, En Vogues Maxine Jones, Team USA Track & Field Member Norris Frederick, James Kyson, WNBA Great Lauren Jackson, and more.