Darius Miles was a first-round draft pick with the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2000 NBA draft, he starred in a movie with Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds, he landed an endorsement with Michael Jordan’s athletic brand, and made nearly $62 million in the NBA, but now he’s filing for bankruptcy.
Injuries, legal problems and bad investments have left Miles asking the court to allow him to sell off his assets to pay creditors. Miles listed $460,385 in assets and $1.57 million in liabilities.
Miles listed a $20,000 child support debt in his bankruptcy. He lost more than $100,000 in 2008 in a California real estate deal. Another real estate deal — with fellow investors former NFL Rams player Marshall Faulk and rapper Nelly — was mired in lawsuits over a Laclede’s Landing property. Newspaper stories wrote about Miles rewarding himself with diamond jewelry.
Miles listed a $282,041 debt to the Internal Revenue Service. He also said that most of his debts aren’t consumer debts, but business debts. Miles owns a single-family home in Belleville with a value of $241,000. His car is a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro, valued at $20,000.
In addition to his Belleville home, he listed 12 other properties he owns, all in East St. Louis. He has a Deutsche Bank account with $49,000 and his son’s college fund with $84,900. He also listed ownership of various collectibles with unknown value, including trophies and signed jerseys, and jewelry.
Sixty percent of NBA players file for bankruptcy in the five years after their retirement. Bad investments, misplaced trust, luxury purchases and child support can contribute to players’ financial collapse, said Adonal Foyle, a former NBA players’ union vice president, who has authored a book on the subject.
source: Belleville News-Democrat
