Did Darius Miles Get Busted for Steroids?

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop broached a subject that hasn't been reference too much in the latest hubbub over Darius Miles, his future, and his potential impact on the league: an outstanding drug suspension. Jason Quick of The Oregonian wrote last week that Miles faces a 10-game suspension should he ever sign another NBA contract.

This matters quite a bit, as Miles is attempting a comeback and should he play in 10 games in this coming season or the next, Portland's on the salary cap (and luxury tax) hook for the rest of his $27 million contract. Money -- and Portland's fiscal motivations to get this news out there -- aside, Abbott notes a real odd confluence of circumstances which points to performance-enhancing drugs as the impetus for Miles' suspension.

Ten games is a very specific number. As Quick points out, if you take that information to the CBA, you'll find that there are two ways to get that suspension: For a fourth marijuana offense, or for a first performance enhancing drugs offense.

In the event that a ten-game suspension is for a fourth marijuana offense, it would follow a five-game suspension (for the third-marijuana offense). Darius Miles has not had a five-game suspension, and the League confirms that if he had had an earlier five-game suspension, we would know about it. So, you do your own police work on what came up on Miles' drug test, you know?

The league has never publicly announced a PED suspension. All the recent NBA drug suspensions have been of the marijuana and DUI variety, save Chris Andersen's infamous two-year ban due to alleged use of hard recreational narcotics. Since Miles has not played in two years, is the league under any obligation to publicize the failed drug test?

It's certainly in the NBA's interest to keep it hushed so long as it does not need to be known; the steroid issue is one of few in which the NBA hasn't taken a public-eye beating, in comparison with the other major leagues.