For one thing, Miles was driving a 1996 Chevy Impala. (I prefer the '97, but that's just me.) You might be thinking that Miles is a) cheap and b) incredibly lame, but I'm sure it was not just any Impala. It seems that Miles has a taste for tricked out, custom rides, like the bad boy pictured above, which was made for him for in a specialty auto shop in Florida. A blogger at the Riverfront Times didn't track down a photo of Miles' Impala, but he did find this picture of another Imapla, customized by the same company for his old teammate Travis Outlaw.

Now, I'm not going to tell Miles how to live his life or even play the "he was asking for it" card, but if you are planning to cruise around town with a bag of weed on you ... maybe do it in a car that doesn't scream, "Hey Officer, look at me! Why don't you search the trunk while you're at!" Just sayin' is all.

Did Darius Miles' Outrageous Ride Lead to Pot Bust? [Riverfront Times]
05/14/2009 - Darius Miles arrested on drug charge in Fairview Heights [AP]

Let's see if we can get this straight now: In 2004, the Blazers gave Miles an ill-advised six-year, $48 million contract. About a year and a half into it, Miles got hurt and had to have microfracture surgery. (Whatever that is.) He missed half of 2006 and all of the next two seasons. Portland, desperate to rid themselves of his contract, had his injury declared "career-ending," which allowed them to cut Miles and get the remainder of his contract taken off the books for salary cap purposes. (Though they still have to pay him the money, I think.) However, if it turns out that the player's career is not over—and it doesn't look like it is—another team can sign him. If he plays in just 10 games, the salary cap relief for his original team is rescinded.

In Portland's case, that's $18 million they cannot afford, which effectively destroys their salary cap on a player who hasn't suited up for them in three years. They are desperate to not let that happen, but to avoid it means sabotaging any attempt by Miles to make a comeback. They preemptively threatened to sue any team that picked him up, claiming any team that did so would only be doing it to hurt the Trail Blazers and not because they feel Miles has any basketball value—which in Portland's eyes, he clearly doesn't because he's a bum. They brought in doctors to testify to his ineptitude, bad mouthed Miles around the league trying to convince everyone his injury was irreversible, and threw in the lawsuit threats just for kicks. Whatever it takes to keep Miles off of NBA courts.

Of course, Memphis probably wasn't interested in playing Miles to begin with, but as soon as Portland dickishly pointed out that such a move would hurt the Trail Blazers franchise, the Grizzlies probably figured, "Yes, let's do that." Spite is a powerful motivator, as is being able to screw over a rival team with a simple ten-day contract. Miles will be on the Memphis roster for at least three more games, and all he has to do is play in two of them to stick it to his old team big time.

Questions surround Trail Blazers' actions [NBA.com]
Grizzlies ignore threat, sign Darius Miles [AP]

It appears to be ... well, it Benjamin Franklin smoking a joint while receiving a lap dance. We're assuming Franklin's presence is due to his appearance on the 100 dollar bill, though we do like to dream, and pretend that Miles has researched Franklin's womanizing history and is simply paying tribute to an American hero. On the other side of the hood? The complete text of Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

Darius Miles And Darren McFadden Have A Lot In Common [100 Percent Injury Rate]
Blazers Blog

Darius Miles, fun guy and beacon of stability, talked to Jason Quick of The Oregonian, and, well, we'll just let Darius talk.

Yeah, you probably smelled liquor on me before. But it's not like I'm at practice drunk. I'm totally focused. I don't care if you come to practice and take shower, once you go to practice and start sweating, its going to come out. That doesn't mean you aren't focused or ready to practice. Like you might go out, you might get drunk, and come to the gym higher than a mother, and you sweating, you smell like liquor, and you interviewing everybody. What does that mean? You still 100 percent focused. That's just ridiculous. Ask any other team, little petty stuff like that, if you ask any other coach in the NBA if they smell liquor on a player, any coach would say, every year. Some players go out in every city they go to.

Oh, but there's so much more. Read the whole thing. The NBA rules.

Darius Miles, Q&A [The Oregonian]