Darius Miles Sets the Record Straight on LeBron James Diss Interview

Forward Darius Miles played alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers for half of the latter's rookie season.

Darius Miles Sets the Record Straight on LeBron James Diss Interview

Darius Miles clarifies he was one of LeBron James' closest teammates (Image via FirstSportz)

Before LeBron James stepped foot on an NBA court, many had already termed him the next great player after Michael Jordan. The Cleveland Cavaliers recognized his talent and drafted ‘The Chosen One’ to help elevate the franchise.

He came into a locker room that was tired of losing. They had lost 17 games the previous season and needed both a coaching change and a spark to lift them up from the doldrums. James was thought of as the answer to their problems.

But before he arrived, forward Darius Miles had made a statement to the press where he suggested that it is not as easy as everyone thought it would be if the Cavaliers brought in a high school player to help change the fortunes of the franchise.

That interview sounded like he was dissing LeBron James. The media termed it as jealousy, and Miles was gone before the 2004 trade deadline. Now, more than two decades later, he sets the record straight while speaking with All the Smoke Podcast’s Stephen Jackson.

What really happened was I was defending LeBron. I knew LeBron. LeBron used to come over to my house. I’m at Thanksgiving dinner that year with LeBron. I’m hooping with LeBron. This is my guy. His locker got specifically put next to mine because we have that relationship.
Darius Miles said

The former 3rd overall pick clarified that he was trying to take the pressure off LeBron James. As a fellow high schooler who came into the NBA, he knew the perils of that pressure. He reiterated that he and James had a good relationship. If ‘The Chosen One’ had taken offense to that interview, they would not have been friends.

LeBron James had other jealous teammates on the Cavs

When LeBron James came into the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room, there were reports of jealousy among his teammates. Darius Miles was reportedly a part of that jealous group of players. But now that he has clarified his relationship, that leaves Carlos Boozer and Ricky Davis as the others who did not like him.

Carlos Boozer 'hated' LeBron James
Carlos Boozer ‘hated’ LeBron James (Image via Open Source/X)

It was revealed that those players hated James and the fanfare surrounding him. They believed he was getting undue praise, and they were supposed to be the franchise cornerstones. Soon, Davis was led out of the door via trade.

Boozer eventually hoodwinked the Cavaliers to sign a lucrative six-year, $70 million contract with the Utah Jazz. That move went on to make him an enemy among Cavaliers fans and prove the point that the forward did have some strong feelings towards the high school star.

No one knows clearly how Carlos Boozer feels about his former teammate, but they have battled on many occasions, and James defeated his Chicago Bulls en route to a title later in his career. Boozer went on to become an All-Star, but the others were out of the league before James won his first title.

Health Struggles Cut Darius Miles’ NBA Career Short

Darius Miles came into the league as a highly touted high schooler. The Los Angeles Clippers drafted him No. 3 overall in the 2000 NBA Draft. That was the highest a player straight out of high school had been picked until James came along.

The Clippers hoped the 6′ 9″ forward would lead them to glory. But he could not establish himself and found himself in the trade that sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He lasted one and a half seasons there and was again on the move.

With the Portland Trail Blazers, Miles started to have a bigger impact. His scoring had improved, and he was becoming a solid rotational piece. In the 2005-06 season, he was having his best season scoring-wise. In his 40th game that season, he severely injured his right knee.

After undergoing microfracture surgery, he missed the next two seasons recovering. The Trail Blazers cut him in 2008 and asked for waivers to shed his $18 million salary. In the 2008-09 season, he played for the Memphis Grizzlies and played his final game on April 13th, 2009. If not for that injury, he would have had the chance to flourish into a solid contributor.

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