Darius Miles spent nine years in the NBA. He was the third overall pick by the Los Angeles Cippers in the 2000 draft coming straight out of high school in Illinois. He had all the talent in the world standing at 6’9″ with an athletic build and the ability to jump out of the gym in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, the talent never fully translated to anything substantial in the league. He did make it as a member of the 2001 All-NBA rookie team but that was about it for him. He bounced around after leaving the Clippers and he spent time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies before a knee injury ended his career.
Despite having a lengthy NBA career, and even some small acting parts, the former NBA player now faces a tough personal dilemma. He has filed for bankruptcy.
Following from Beth Hundsdorfer and George Pawlaczyk of the Belleville News-Democrat.
Former East St. Louis Flyers basketball standout Darius Miles was a first-round draft pick with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 NBA draft with a contract worth $9 million. He starred in a movie with Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds. He landed an endorsement with Michael Jordan’s athletic brand.
His star was rising and his financial future looked secure.
But injuries, legal problems and bad investments have left Miles asking the court to allow him to sell off his assets to pay creditors. Miles listed $460,385 in assets and $1.57 million in liabilities.
Miles and his bankruptcy attorney, Robert Eggmann, declined to comment when contacted this week.
Miles listed a $20,000 child support debt in his bankruptcy. He lost more than $100,000 in 2008 in a California real estate deal. Another real estate deal — with fellow investors former NFL Rams player Marshall Faulk and rapper Nelly — was mired in lawsuits over a Laclede’s Landing property. Newspaper stories wrote about Miles rewarding himself with diamond jewelry.
Miles listed a $282,041 debt to the Internal Revenue Service. He also said that most of his debts aren’t consumer debts, but business debts. Miles owns a single-family home in Belleville with a value of $241,000. His car is a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro, valued at $20,000.
In addition to his Belleville home, he listed 12 other properties he owns, all in East St. Louis. He has a Deutsche Bank account with $49,000 and his son’s college fund with $84,900. He also listed ownership of various collectibles with unknown value, including trophies and signed jerseys, and jewelry.
