Blazers could come under scrutiny for statements on Miles' condition

Forward looks to play elsewhere, despite suggestion that knee replacement surgery may be in his future

By dwight jaynes

The Portland Tribune, Jul 28, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (33 Reader comments)

FERNANDO MEDINA / GETTY IMAGES

Darius Miles played in this game for the Trail Blazers early in the 2005-06 season, and now other NBA teams are looking into whether he is physically able to play again after microfracture knee surgery.

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The Trail Blazers, specifically General Manager Kevin Pritchard, may be in violation of federal regulations in regard to public comments about the medical condition of former player Darius Miles.

Miles underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee and has not played since April 15, 2006. After a long rehabilitation period, the team first ruled him unfit to play and then sought an independent physician’s examination of the knee. That physician ruled Miles’ injury was career ending — which was important to the Blazers on two fronts that have to do with finances.

First, the $18 million over two seasons left on Miles contract would not count against the team’s salary cap.

Second, insurance would cover much of the cost of Miles’ remaining salary.

If Miles plays 10 games in the league in either of the next two seasons, however, the Blazers would be responsible for the salary out of their own pocket and be forced to count it against their salary cap.

Obviously, that situation creates an incentive for the Blazers to hope Miles never plays again. And perhaps an incentive for the team to be as negative as possible in describing Miles’ chances of ever playing again – thereby discouraging other teams from taking a chance on him.

“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. I hear that, and as a general manager, I didn’t want it on my conscience – that I had a kid have to go through a knee replacement surgery. That’s a pretty major surgery. They saw (two bones) and replace (the knee). It’s a bad deal.”

In a story posted April 14 on the Portland Tribune’s Web site, Pritchard said, “The doctors had actually said, ‘If you were my son, I’d never have you pick up a basketball again.’ I’m the kind of GM (that) I wouldn’t want that on my head that he ever had to have knee replacement.”

The problem for Pritchard and the Blazers is that those statements could be a violation of the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Availability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Since the HIPAA privacy rule went into effect on April 14, 2003, pro and college teams in all sports have been very reluctant to reveal specific details of player injuries without the permission of the player.

Most teams have come to the point where they will reveal only whether a player may sit out a game, but not give any specific details of the injuries. HIPAA’s privacy rule prohibits “covered entities” — often interpreted as employers who provide health care or health-care clinics for employees, which teams do for their players – from revealing health information about those employees without their consent.

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