In this new feature on Black Sports Online, I will breakdown a match up from the weekend that necessarily wasn't a battle between two teams, but a battle of principles.
In this weekend's marque match-up between the Portland Trailblazers vs. The League and Darius Miles, The Trailblazers were outmatched from the beginning. Having threatened legal action against any team that signed veteran Darius Miles, the Trailblazers had no chance of being a threat to the personnel plans of the Memphis Grizzlies.
For those not familiar with the initial drama, please see my previous article Baller Blockin'
http://blacksportsonline.com/index/2009/01/baller-blockin.html
The Grizzlies had waived Miles earlier in the week. When Trailblazers President Larry Miller found out that Miles had a good chance at clearing waivers, he threatened legal action against any team that would sign Miles for the sole purpose of effecting their financial status. Apparently the Trailblazers didn't anticipate their bluff being called by the same team that waived Miles three days earlier.
Darius Miles, now a Memphis Grizzly again, will be $18 Million dollars richer this time next week, at the expense of the Portland Trailblazers. His situation will set precedence for future instances when a team tries to "renig" on its contractual obligations.
Memphis doesn't win or lose in this one. They get a player, that player gets a nice check from another team, plain and simple. The Trailblazers took the L here, not just financially, but from the standpoint that they pulled a lame stunt in order to intimidate the rest of the league.
I could imagine Blazers President Larry Miller looking like this for the rest of the week.
