Miles Davis vs. Darius Miles

During the NBA's slow days of summer, Mirror Mirror examines the connections between hoops stars and similarly-named figures of historical note.

On the surface, little binds Miles Davis, a phenomenal musician who made an indeliable mark on American music by revolutionizing (and some would say perfecting) jazz, and Darius Miles, the eternal character in th question "I wonder what ______ is doing?"

In this episode of Mirror Mirror, we examine what makes these men these men.



References: The excellent tome Reading Jazz, edited by Robert Gottlieb, which includes sections from several Davis bios*, one of which is an autobiography conducted via self Q&A, which I find magnificent; Nike's Jordan XVII campaign which included two jazz-infused spots featuring Darius Miles, including an infamous one with Quentin Richardson which led to a 2002 story from Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen in which Tyson Chandler admitted he and Eddy Curry were attempting to invent their own secret handshake in Chicago; the 2000-01 Clippers preview from the SI with the lovely Miles/Garnett cover, which straddles the line between canny and riotous.

Photos of Miles Davis and Darius Miles from Getty Images. Photo of "Kind of Blue" from Wikimedia Commons. Photo of Darius Miles' whip from NBA Noise, previously featured on FanHouse.

* The autobiography conducted via self Q&A in Reading Jazz is actually by Duke Ellington, not Miles Davis. However, seeing as it is unlikely this feature will survive long enough to get to a Duke Ellington/Wayne Ellington pairing, let me note that the level to which The Duke stonewalls himself in said self Q&A is marvelous. An example from the text:

Q: What do you consider your most important contribution to the music world, to your people, and to your country?

A: There are quite enough professional appraisers around to enjoy that headache. I have no ambition to be a critic or a judge.

It's like Derrick Rose interviewing Derrick Rose at halftime of a nationally televised game!