We've known about this for months, but today the NBA made it official: The NBA announced today that Darius Miles of the Boston Celtics has been suspended without pay for 10 games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program at the end of the 2007-08 NBA season. His violation of the program involved phentermine.If you recall, word of the suspension leaked before it was known what he tested positive for, and initial speculation centered on steriods. In hindsight, phentermine, an appetite suppressant, makes much more sense. Miles originally tried to come back last season, and an appettite suppressant might have come in handy were he struggling to get back into game shape.
Of course, before Miles can actually serve a suspension he needs to win a roster spot -- his contract with the Celtics won't be guaranteed until he proves himself in training camp. From the sounds of things, though, that won't be a problem: Tim Grove, his personal trainer, recently estimated that Miles has regained 80-85% of his athleticism and is on pace to be close to his old self by late December. If Miles even comes close to resembling the player he once was, he's certainly worth a spot near the end of Boston's bench.
(I'm curious, though: when Miles gets suspended, will his fine be based on the $1.07 million the Celtics are paying him or the $9.5 million he's still collecting from the Blazers? If it's the former, he'll lose roughly $130,000; if it's the latter, he'll lose about $1.15 million. Or will the fine be both salaries combined?)
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Not going to claim to be abreast of the situation, but I fail to see how an appetite-suppressant would help an NBA player get to game shape. Wouldn't that entail huge amounts of cardio and necessitate massive amounts of calories? I think steroids makes more sense and, if not, that he was high when he decided appetite suppressants would be helpful.