 picked to the Clippers back in 2008 years in the league. Darius Miles joins us now. We were just all complaining about how getting old sucks, but we don't have to talk about it now. We can talk about happy things, Darius. Your co-host, Clinton Richardson, was on the show a few months ago. He said that when you were in high school, people started calling you baby KG. I don't know how guys feel about being compared to other dudes, contemporaries, but that you could play anything on the court. No worries. Did you like the comparisons? Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. It gave me a little bit of fame. They started at a Nike camp, you know, queuing on them. They all from Chicago. So I was skinny, tall, dark-skinned, and they were just like, man, that's baby KG. The whole camp started calling me. And after that, that's what it was. Easy enough. D. Miles, when you were in high school, you were invited to Michael Jordan's camp, right? And there's rumors that you guys played one-on-one. Was there any truth to that? No, I didn't play one-on-one. I played against him my first time playing. And everybody was kind of scared to go at him. So I stepped up to the plate. I was only going to be in 10th grade. So I stepped up to the plate like, I got him. And he just hit every shot he took. But I blocked the shot once. But after that game, he switched teams and made me play with him for the rest of the week. And it made me confident that show that he respected how hard I played and how competitive I was at high school against him. Man, that's awesome. And there's also stories that, is it true that he convinced you to not sign with An-1 and decide with Nike and Jumpman? Yeah, we was going to Jordan camp every year since my sophomore year, every summer. And after my senior year, we went to Santa Barbara, Jordan camp again. And we was draped down to An-1 gear because they sent us so much stuff. And we was trying to get a Nike deal, but Nike was kind of BS. And so we draped to An-1. And when he looked at us, he was like, man, why y'all got that on? And we was like, we can't get a deal. You know, we want to be with Nike. And he's like, all right. So our agent called us that next morning and people were knocking on our door and they sent us boxes of boxes of Jordan store. My agent was like, what did y'all do? He was like, nothing. And he signed me and Q to Jordan and made Nike payers. Oh, that's perfect. I love that. That led to you and Q doing the Jordan commercial in 2002. You still, you still get the packs, you still get the boxes? Some here and not as many as they used to be. Yeah. What's your favorite, what's your favorite piece that you got back in the day? Oh, the patterned luthers. You know, that was my favorite one. So any cover patterned luthers, they were just always, you just felt luxury and it just felt like upper class when you had them patterned luthers on with the braids, the black and whites, the black and reds. It's just, you know, it's like they fit perfect. Cool grays changed the game. You put the cool grays on anything. You can hoop in them, wear them to school, whatever the cool grays as there was. They can't see. Okay. Coming out of, I mean, you just mentioned the fact you're playing against MJ in 10th grade. It's just shocking. But come out of high school, what kind of pressure, if any, did you feel or were you so young that maybe that didn't even register yet for you? It was a lot of pressure because, you know, the team that I got drafted to, it was like a college team. Like we, every other team was, you know, way older, way more mature. And back in that day, a lot of, a lot of organizations and a lot of players really wouldn't, wouldn't find the guys coming straight out of high school. So, you know, it's like we had to prove ourselves a little bit more because we skipped the process of college like everybody else. And, you know, when you going to a team and guys and been in college or guys and been in a league for a while, they like me and they ain't going to let this high school guy come in and, you know, take spots. So, it was a lot of pressure every, every game you had to prove yourself, you know, to get your peers, to get the respect from your peers. Did you ever even now think if you could do it all over again, would you have changed anything? Would you have gone to college? Had you given that thought? Was there a college you would have gone to? Yeah, I committed to St. John's. Before my senior year, I committed to St. John's, but the coach, Mike Jarvis, you know, great man, you know, he could have been telling me anything, but he was like, man, you're a top five pick, you know. Wow. You shouldn't go to go to college, but I wouldn't change nothing. Only time I miss colleges when, you know, the guys had them college stories about the dorm room and all that other stuff, but outside of that, another process, love the guys I can't even leave with. I would have been a higher draft pick after my sophomore and junior year. I stayed all four years. It was so much fun. Who says no? Hell no, D-Miles, we did the right thing. Forget that dorm. We was in luxury risk cars as in four seasons. We good. That's true. There was no NIL. We had to get bread under the table. It wasn't legal like it is now. You know, like it didn't really change. With the Clippers, we was working out at Southwest Junior College. That's where our practice facility was. We had to use a gym, so it really didn't feel like the league, it feel like halfway the league. Because Clippers weren't doing stuff like that back there. Yeah. Listen, when I got drafted by the Sixers, we practiced at a spot called PCOM. It was like a medical college, and we used the gym. We couldn't even come in and get extra shots or anything. They like, yo, the gym is booked up for the rest of the day. We had to go home and take a shower. I understand that experience. So when you came in, when you came in with the Clippers, your first game was against Carl Malone and John Stockton, who was obviously the legendary pick and rollers. How was that first game? What was that experience like? Was you nervous? It was surreal. I didn't know John Stockton was that big. Like, you know, you see him on TV. He looked like a smaller guy, but he was real tall and big, and then called Malone arms. So we kind of got into it with him and Olin Poly and all them. And, you know, we couldn't back down. And I just stayed back on. I was like, man, he would have kicked my ass if I would have ran up home because I was sticking bones, but this arms was so big and he was so big to get around them. And just the, uh, just the size of the game, we was way faster and quicker, but they knew more than us. And then that's when I really, really realized that this, this game is a whole nother level. You got to think it out too. Yeah. D Miles, during that same time on the Clippers, you were playing in the same building as the Shaq and Kobe three P team. And I was wondering, especially during those times, was there any beef? Like, was there jealousy? Was there even more of a rivalry, like sharing that same arena? No, we beat him every year. We beat him in the regular season like once or twice. Shaq was like a big brother when we got to LA. Like he, he took us in like, like, like we was little bros, you know, invite us to his house, invite us to different events. Kobe was younger. So every time we played, Kobe was up for the challenge and, you know, they, they team was older. So feeling Kobe used to always want to like demolish us, but it really wasn't no beef or no problem or nothing like that. I think we kind of grabbed, grabbed our fan base from the grass roots and, you know, came on up from that. They liked the way we played and how hard we play it. That was the Shaq is a cop phase. Always great video and pictures from that era. Is it true he pulled you over? Yeah, he made me late for practice, pulled me over. I guess they didn't have practice and he pulled me over and the rest was history from there. I told him, you got to pay my fine. He said, I got you. I went on to practice. What a fun thing to be able to do to friends. Wait, did you know it was him immediately, by the way? Like, could you tell in your room? I was looking down. I was looking down in my local apartment trying to grab all my proper paperwork. I looked up. You know, he actually policed. He told me stories about how he would pull people over or go to people's houses and they think they get punked or it's a prank because it's Shaq. So they don't take it serious, but he actually pulled. He a real police officer. That's all. Yeah, legit. I wanted to know you played. No, no, you're real 12. But I wanted to ask you, man, you only played two seasons with the clips. Why do you think things ended so early, so quick? I think it's just the organization, just how they was ran. I don't. Like, we had, we had all that talent, but we had enough money to pay two superstars max money when nobody on the team making no money or nothing like that. I just think that the organization really wanted to look in or believed in a self to be a good organization. Wow. So, Darius, after that year, you're traded to Cleveland and that was before LeBron gets there. And that whole year, you're basically tanking to get the number one pick to get LeBron. What was that process like just knowing the ownership is trying to lose games to get this, you know, this next prodigy hit? I never lost like that ever in my life. I didn't didn't understand it completely. I was going to LeBron games. His games was way more packed than our games. Like everybody was going to this game. So I was hoping that we didn't have a game on the day that they had a game because, you know, his games was live. So going this game, this whole senior, but I never been through that much losing. Like I think we won 16 games out of 82. I never felt nothing like that. It was an experience for me, but the next year, the town changed when we got LeBron. Yeah, it's crazy when we think about the year before a team becomes great. Forget about what that felt like at the end of that season. There was a local reporter that asked you guys about the possibility of LeBron coming to the Cavs. Carlos Boozer had said that the Cavs had better guys on the team. You know we're doing this. You said this. We got the video. Roll it. I don't think you can really just bring a high school player in and really just think your team going to really turn around like that. There he is. All right. It's one of those hot takes gone cold. Is it weird to watch that now knowing how it all played out? No, because they just played clips and they edited it. If you really listen to everything that I said, I was taken up for LeBron. They were trying to put all this pressure on them. They were trying to do all this other stuff. I was with LeBron like a senior. I used to go over this house. I used to go to the games and all that stuff. We had a relationship before he came to Cleveland. So if you really look at the whole interview and everything they say, I'm a country boy, so I probably use a lot of wording that they might not have understood in a slang type way. But in that statement, if you listen to everything I said, I was taken up for them because I was like, man, I ain't going to put pressure on my man like that to just turn something around like, and if you know what team we was on, we won 16 out of 82. It wasn't all happy, go lucky around there. Everything went fine and dandy. So you know, knowing what we went through last year, you're not going to put no pressure on my man to come in and just turn this organization around and we was the worst team in the NBA like that. It's never been done like that before. So when I see that clip, it's all love and good. This is that new day and never where they take something and they try to run with it. But in all actuality, I was really taken up for them. Once that season started, though, did you know immediately he was a generational talent and this was going to be a long ride? And did you see him still in 21 years still being as dominant as he is? No, I didn't see in 21 years that he was going to have 40,000. That's crazy. But I knew he was a generational talent. I knew he was going to be a good player. I knew he was going to be a good player by watching him in high school. Just how advanced his game was. And once you take him off the court with high school guys and put them on a court with older guys, it didn't change. He just looked a little bit more faster. He looked like he jumped a little bit more high. But I knew it from training camp. I knew it from the summertime. We was all working out during the summertime playing together. He was something special. And an organization like that, they got them. They didn't really know what to do with them. I started point that year. I started the point. Ricky Davis was the two. LeBron was the three. Boozer was the four. Big Z was the five. And I struggled at that point because I felt LeBron should have ran point because the way his game was, it was like he played so smoothly and got everybody involved. Plus got buckets. But I just think the organization really off the rip didn't know what they were doing. He probably would have made the playoffs every year if they was prepared for him. You had like a Don Nelson, something that make you run up and down the court. You know what I'm saying? We really wanted to run the team. We was running like the Utah Jazz O offense. Jaller. Darius, when you went to Portland, then you had your career high at 47 points. And that was coming off the bench against the Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony. What was that like? Was there extra juice there going against Mello? You just get high. How do you do that? How do you have 47 off the bench? It was just one of them nights. I had a good night before. Lou might know something about that. A good night before in Denver. Yeah, it was just one of them nights. I just felt good. It organically just happened. And I was just on fire. It was another team that was trying to rebuild and trying to find a place. They didn't get rid of the sheet. We didn't get rid of a lot of players. To be a contender again. But that night just felt good. It really didn't matter whether it was Mello or anybody else. It was just a good night for me. 47 off the bench. All right, we're in the final stretch here, Darius. Are there any teams right now, East, West, both, that in your mind stand out as they will be in the finals? They have a real shot? You know, I got my guy, Jason Taylor. I think those Celtics is really standing out for me to be in the finals. I'm rooting for the Clippers on the West side to go. That's about it. No, the Luz too. The Kauai thing last night was a tough one. I got to ask you this because it will settle the argument once and for all on this show, guys. Whatever he says, goes. Who do you have as rookie of the year? I got Big Wimby. Yes! There's an argument because Chandler won't do it. Well, listen, his rookie year is insane. It's unbelievable. I feel like we're really talking about the rookie with similar stats on the worst team on the West with similar stats on the best team in the West. So, does winning matter when you vote for this stuff? Maybe an MVP, it does. For all-star, it does. Now, rookie of the year, it doesn't. It's an individual award. Yeah, I think Wimby is, man, it's just crazy what he's capable of doing. Like I said, this is just his fill out year. He can possibly win defense a player of the year and rookie of the year. So, it's the end of the year. My only problem, D. My only issue is we pick and choose who gets the privilege of saying it's an individual award. Like some guys are going to get judged based on wins and losses and then you have guys like a Wimby who's in dead last, but the stats are so good it's like, it's an individual award. That's where my beef come in. Like if I'm chat and I'm averaging close to 18 points a game and I'm basically, you know, on a lot of given nights, the second or third best player on that team, it ain't like I'm just a shoe in or I'm just a throw in on that team. And I've been flirting with from being on the team from one to three, one, two and three spots all season. Like I will feel some way about that. You're definitely right. You said it. But we watched LeBron win the rookie of the year over Carmelo and Carmelo made the playoffs the first year and he led his team to the playoffs. No, sometimes it happens. Case closed. Case closed. Jerry Smiles, my favorite guest we've ever had on the show. Thank you for finalizing this argument once and for all and I appreciate the answer. We appreciate the time as well, Darius. Thank you so much. Appreciate you guys. Thank you, sir.