Blazers May Have Violated Federal Regulations On Miles' Comm

[Blake_Savage]

From the front page:

A violation of federal regulations in regard to public comments about the medical condition of former player Darius Miles may have been committed by the Trail Blazers, specifically General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

“Two doctors said Darius had the worst microfracture injury they had ever seen,” Pritchard said on an Oregonlive.com blog this week. “They would never have him play basketball, and the odds of having knee replacement surgery is high."

After reading this, I am really pulling for the kid. People hate on this guy all the time and to be honest I never really cared for him myself. But what the blazers did to this guy's career is so damaging. If this was kept private a Euro team could of at least thrown a few mill his way. Just so he could continue to earn a living. Also, He's been pretty impressive in workouts lately. Lets hope he beats the odds Amare style.

[Ghosten]

Being lazy has done more harm to Miles career then Pritchard talking about the abysmal status of Miles knee.

[fallentimes]

KP temporarily stopped walking on water.

[dreamcloud]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/johncanzano/ ... rd_no.html

I wouldn't care that much if he came back, wouldn't affect the capspace that much. Would just make the games between Miles and the Blazers more interesting. Although I do find it strange you feel bad for Miles because the blazers talked about the status of his knee, when he brought this on himself in the first place.

[thegreatblaze]

And what Miles did to this franchise is so damaging. Anyone who thinks otherwise simply doesn't know what they're talking about.

[DelaneyRudd]

What, do they not have doctors in Europe?

[Cigamodnalro]

It's all calculated. IIRC, if another NBA team picks up Miles for the min, the Blazers are on the hook for the rest of his orig. salary (and it counts against their cap, no less).

[Milkdud]

DMiles to the Finnish league book it!

[Ghosten]

It's all calculated. IIRC, if another NBA team picks up Miles for the min, the Blazers are on the hook for the rest of his orig. salary (and it counts against their cap, no less).

He would have to play in ten games, only after sitting out ten games for his suspension. But the rest is correct.

[britblazerdude]

THE OP obviously has no idea who Miles is if he feels bad for him

[PacificBlazer]

Anyone who feels sorry for Miles should have him on their team. They might change their mind then.

[Yangsing]

What the Blazers did to Miles career? Don't make me laugh.

Miles damaged his own career more than the Blazers ever did.

[Charlie78]

This is actually a planted story by miles agent. Another reporter in portland did some more research and the blazers did not break any rules in talking about miles knees. Feel sorry for someone else. Darius got 25 million more from portland than he would have from any other team and he still would have had horrible knees.

[Red Robot]

If this was kept private a Euro team could of at least thrown a few mill his way. Just so he could continue to earn a living.

No matter what happens, he'll still get his money from the Blazers: $18 million over the next two years. Even if he never signs another contract or plays another game, he will have "earned" more than $60 million in his career. If he's still concerned about earning a living, he can get a regular job like the rest of us. No European team would be dumb enough to sign him anyway.

[NetsForce]

Now that's the Trailblazers Organization I Know!

[SabasRevenge!]

^^^ I knew it wouldn't be long until someone piled on with a tired Blazers joke. Big win!

[abcdef]

It's all calculated. IIRC, if another NBA team picks up Miles for the min, the Blazers are on the hook for the rest of his orig. salary (and it counts against their cap, no less).

They are still paying him his salary, it's just not on their salary cap.

[Mr Awesome]

Im just curious, what exactly is the federal regulation being referred to? What are the specifics of it? What can the Blazers say/not say? Does anyone know?

[mojomarc]

Im just curious, what exactly is the federal regulation being referred to? What are the specifics of it? What can the Blazers say/not say? Does anyone know?

HIPPA, or specifically the Protected Health Information clause. The thing is, the law only applies to health care providers, so in order for Miles to have a case he would have to succeed in convincing a judge that KP is a health care provider or an employee of a health care provider.

Beyond this, problem with Miles' case, though, is that by signing a player contract he agrees to the terms of the CBA, which state unequivocally that the teams may disclose information to the press as to why a player is unable to play. While there is a clause that says the players can control the timing of such information releases, it's pretty clear that the Blazers could publicize why they sought a medical disability and medical information related to that:

(d) Subject to Section 3(e) above, each Team may make public medical information relating to the players in its employ, provided that such information relates solely to the reasons why any such player has not been or is not rendering services as a player.