Darius LaVar Miles is the biggest bust in the history of the NBA. As a professional basketball player he made over $50 Million Dollars just based on hype and being 6 foot 9 inches tall. Miles was drafted third overall in the 2000 NBA Draft straight from East St. Louis High School and was immediately crowned the next great player in the NBA before he ever played in his first game. He graced the cover of Slam Magazine and Sports Illustrated before the age of 19, AND Michael Jordan made him a member of his prestigious "Jumpman" basketball marketing team as a teenager. Miles popularity was so hyped he even co-stared in the popular basketball DVD "The Youngest Guns," and in the major Hollywood movie "The Perfect Score."


(SI.com)

Every NBA team he has played for treated him as royalty, paid him like a King, and he played like the court jester. All this hype and Miles averaged 10 points a game for his 8 year career, most of that career was spent hurt or fighting with his head coach. He played for three different NBA teams and each team that traded him couldn't wait to get him out of their locker room. His entire career was hype. He was a good dunker as a young player, and that was about it.

Darius Miles was given superstar treatment on and off the court his entire life, and now that his career is over, I consider him the biggest bust in the history of the NBA. He is a main reason why the commissioner made it impossible for players to jump straight from high school into the NBA. Miles' "upside" and hype was the reason he was given multi million dollar contracts by multiple teams.

But hey...maybe now GM's have learned not to give unproven, young athletes who can't shoot and can't dribble millions of dollars all because Slam and Sports Illustrated call them the next big thing before they are 20 years old.