His first NBA preseason game was eight years ago, and since then he’s been employed by three other organizations. He turns 27 today, so he’s no kid.
But as Miles tied his sneakers before the Celtics exhibition opener against the Philadelphia 76ers at UMass last night, he was a kid again in many ways. Having missed the last two seasons because of a right knee microfracture, this was some unfamiliar turf.
The work the forward has been doing paid dividends in the Celts’ 98-92 loss. Miles had six points, hitting all three of his shots in 16 minutes. A few seconds after entering the game late in the first quarter, he sagged over and tied up the Sixers’ Louis Williams for a jump ball, which Miles won.
“It was fun,” Miles said. “I had butterflies all the way up until I went in. I felt good. I wasn’t getting beat off the dribble; I got back on defense. Running, jumping, everything felt good. . . . I enjoyed myself every minute I was out there.”
The word from acting coach Tom Thibodeau was positive, too.
“I thought Darius was solid,” Thibodeau said. “He had some good sequences defensively. I thought he moved well. His cuts to the basket (and) cuts along the baseline were very good. I think for a player who’s been off as long as he’s been off, he did a very good job for his first game back. His conditioning still has to improve, but overall I thought he was very good.”
Miles cruised into the practice facility in Waltham at 8 a.m., a full two hours before the Celtics’ scheduled shootaround.
“I was the first person at the gym this morning,” he said.
The Celtics are carrying 16 players and have just 15 spots available. And he’s the only one without a guaranteed contract. For a former No. 3 overall NBA draft pick, the feeling has to be odd. It’s been a while since he actually had to try out for a basketball team.
“Probably sixth grade or maybe fifth,” Miles said after pondering the question for a moment. “Ever since then, the coaches always knew I was coming. They were waiting for me. They wanted me.”
It’s not that the Celtics don’t want Miles, but the burden of proof is clearly on him to show he belongs. That’s why last night was such an important step.
“I don’t have a job yet,” he said. “I’m just trying to do whatever they tell me. Anything they want is what I’ll do. I’ll run through a wall if they want me to.”
Miles was running, too, in his rookie season with the Los Angeles Clippers back in 2000-01.
“I was more anxious that time,” he said. “I was trying to prove to everybody that I belonged. I was trying to show that I made the right decision coming right out of high school to the NBA. But I had a contract and I had a job. This is all different from that. But this is great. This is where I really want to stay. Every other year I’ve played, I was the guy who was going to get the ball. I was the guy my team was counting on to put up numbers.
“Here I’m just a role player and I love that. I love that there’s no pressure on me to do too much. It’s great when you have the kind of stars we do. All the attention’s on them. All I have to do is fill in the gaps and take advantage of all the attention that gets put on them. This is great.”
Despite his contract status, Miles is hardly seen by the rest of the Celtics as a hanger-on.
“The guys have treated me really well, especially Ticket (Kevin Garnett), Ray (Allen) and Paul (Pierce),” he said. “Those guys know me from before. I’ve had some wars with those guys, so they know what I can do. That makes me feel more comfortable.”
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