For years people thought Darius Miles was hating on LeBron James – That was furthest from the truth as it could be.
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A few years ago, a clip of the Cavaliers players came out where they voiced their opinions on what they felt about the biggest high school prospect LeBron James.
The clip made it look like the players giving the interview were jealous that a 17 year old kid was stealing their spotlight. Maybe that was the narrative the media wanted to create for the entry of LeBron James into the league, but that was not the truth.
Smush Parker and Ricky Davis were also a part of the interview at that time. While they outright waxed lyrical about having Bron come in, Miles and Boozer spoke like they didn’t really need him. Well, that’s house the media portrayed it. But the clip does make it look that way.
It is understandable why the narrative was so. No NBA professional would want a 17-year-old to come in, and be portrayed as a messiah. Not when you’ve been brought in to be a star on a team that literally was tanking. They won 17 games all season at the time of the interview, which was joint lowest at that point in the league.
Darius Miles was happy to have LeBron James on his team – in fact he was his biggest supporter
While that was the story that was made out, Miles finally decided to put that story to bed. He wanted to set the record straight and to make sure people did not think of him in that light anymore. Miles said he was there for every game he played in, visited his house for thanksgiving. That is not the behavior of a guy who didn’t want on his team.
Miles said he still spoke to LeBron the same way he spoke to him all those years as a rookie. They speak about their moms and family and are amicable. He goes on record to say LeBron is a good dude, and was happy he came on board.
The Nuggets and the Cavaliers were equal on record, and while the Cavs ended up getting the first pick, the Nuggets got the third. The landscape would have been so different if the picks were swapped and the Nuggets got hold of LBJ instead of Carmelo Anthony.