Miles can relate to Warriors he coaches
Aaron Miles’ 10year pro playing career included such basketball outposts as Pau, France; Seville, Spain; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Reno, which is just fine with him.
As a kid, Miles seldom ventured out of his Northeast Portland, Ore., neighborhood. His decade crisscrossing the globe gave him the chance to make good money and experience new cultures. But when his playing career stalled four years ago after he suffered a torn labrum in Russia, Miles had one regret: things hadn’t worked out with the Warriors.
Undrafted out of Kansas in 2005, he latched on with Golden State as a rookie free agent, only to be released three months and 19 games later before his contract was guaranteed. After emerging as one of the EuroLeague’s better point guards, Miles joined the Warriors for 201011 training camp and, if not for a couple of big preseason performances from forward Jeff Adrien, probably would have made the 15man roster.
When Miles was waived seven days before the season opener, he had no idea he’d get one more opportunity with Golden State. Miles, 36, is fresh off his second year as head coach of the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, where he oversees a group of players who share the same goal he once had: a shot at the NBA. That makes him wellsuited for his new role as head coach of Golden State’s Summer League team.
Miles’ 16man roster, which will compete in the California Classic Summer League in Sacramento (Monday through Wednesday) and the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas ( July 515), features three recent draft picks, two players on guaranteed contracts, some twowaycontract hopefuls and others, like guard Jimmer Fredette, who intend to resuscitate their NBA careers. In each of them, Miles sees a bit of himself.
“I always tell them, in the G League as well as here, that I’ve sat in their seats,” Miles said. “I’ve been there. Every role that everybody on the team is playing, I’ve played that role at some point in my career — be it on one of my teams overseas, in the Summer League, in the NBA or in the G League. I can relate to you guys. I understand that it’s not always fair.”
Like many of his G League and Summer League players, Miles was a highly touted recruit. ESPN ranked him the 11thbest high school senior in the class of 2001. In his four seasons at Kansas, Miles guided the Jayhawks to two Final Fours, including one national championship game, leaving as the Big 12 Conference’s alltime assists leader.
But there isn’t much of a market in the NBA for an undersize, passfirst point guard with a shaky jumper. After being cut midseason by the Warriors in January 2006, Miles became a basketball nomad, yoyoing between nine teams — six of which were overseas — in nine years.
His easygoing demeanor and high basketball IQ made him a goto mentor for younger players. Oftentimes in team huddles, Miles pulled aside his coaches to point out a hole in the opponent’s defense.
When Golden State waived him a second time in October 2010, Miles spurned EuroLeague offers to play for the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League (now G League). Over the next few months, Miles befriended Bighorns intern Ryan Atkinson, whose duties included driving players to restaurants and doing the team’s laundry.
“Ryan was like the errand boy, the lowest man on the totem pole,” Miles said. “Obviously, I wasn’t trying to get anything from him. He was just a real genuine dude. We’d hang out, get food.”
In summer 2017, after seasonlong stints on the staffs at Kansas and Florida Gulf Coast, Miles received a call from Atkinson — the Santa Cruz Warriors’ assistant general manager — asking if he’d want to coach Golden State’s G League affiliate. Although Miles hadn’t considered coaching in the G League, he had long thought about returning to the only NBA franchise to give him a chance.
His several months on the Warriors in 2005 were among the most memorable of his pro career. Oakland reminded him of his childhood neighborhood in Northeast Portland, with its workingclass ethos and strong sense of community. The lasting bonds Miles made overshadowed the mounting losses.
Each of the past two years he has spent the NBA playoffs with Golden State, acting as another assistant on Steve Kerr’s staff. Last season, Miles led Santa Cruz to a 3416 record and a berth in the G League’s Western Conference finals.
Some inside Golden State’s organization believe that he has a chance to be an NBA head coach. In going against the norm to tab a G League coach as his Summer League coach, Kerr made one thing certain: The Warriors have plans for Miles.
“I just want to become great wherever I’m at,” Miles said, echoing a sentiment he often stresses to his players. “If I have that opportunity and I’m blessed to become an NBA head coach, I would love that. If it doesn’t come in the NBA, whatever. As long as my family’s good.”