CHICAGO – You do this long enough, you know how this is going to play out.
Brandon Miller will be drafted second or third in next month’s NBA draft and will become a star player wherever he is. There will likely not be much mention of Jamea Jonae Harris as his career continues past the five-year mark or a decade from now — maybe more. If anyone was to speak up for the 23-year-old Harris, it would be now.
Advertisement
But it’s much more likely that there will be no rising up of consciousness among NBA teams that have a chance to take the Alabama freshman forward in the top five. No one will penalize Miller for his role in the shooting death of Harris on Jan. 15, which led to a capital murder indictment of one of his then-Alabama teammates. Miller drove a car that had the weapon allegedly used to kill Harris to the place along the Tuscaloosa, Ala. “Strip” area near the Alabama campus where she was shot. He is too talented. This is Big Boy Basketball. A guy like Miller, with his two-way game, can help you keep your job. NBA folks like their jobs very, very much.
The former teammate, 21-year-old Darius Miles, and 20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis were arrested soon after the killing and both charged with capital murder in Harris’ death. Attorneys for each said they were acting in self-defense; Harris’ boyfriend returned fire after the shooting began, hitting Davis in the shoulder. Davis was the person who allegedly retrieved the gun from the car and fired the shots into the Jeep where Harris was seated. She died near the scene of the shooting after her boyfriend drove and flagged down a police officer. Miller was at the scene but left when the shots were fired.
Miller, it must be noted, and stated forcefully, was never arrested, and never charged with anything. He cooperated fully with police when told they needed to speak with him. Just as forcefully, he insists, as does the attorney representing him, that he wasn’t aware that the gun was in the car when he brought it to Miles. He had left Miles at a nightclub earlier that night because the line to get in was too long before coming back, after being asked to do so in texts from Miles.
Asked by AL.com in January why Miller was not charged, Tuscaloosa chief deputy district attorney Paula Whitley said, “That’s not a question I can answer. There’s nothing we could charge him with.”
Advertisement
Miller hasn’t said much about the killing, though he did say in March, just before the start of the NCAA tournament: “I never lose sight of the fact that a family lost one of their loved ones that night. This whole situation is just really heartbreaking. Respectfully, that’s all I’m going to be able to say on that.”
But, the bottom line is that this isn’t a legal question facing NBA teams. Even though Alabama was excoriated for how it initially handled the situation – Miller was allowed to play for the Crimson Tide the night after police testimony revealed he’d driven the car with the gun in it to the scene, and coach Nate Oats initially said Miller was just “in the wrong spot at the wrong time” – the 20-year-old faces no jeopardy from law enforcement. He’s a free man.
The issue facing teams looking at the 6-9 forward is one of judgment – both theirs and Miller’s. Can you present him to your fan base as a future face of the franchise? Can you believe him when he says he didn’t see the texts from Miles in which, police claim, Miles specifically asked Miller to bring him his gun? Can you trust someone who, while not legally culpable, was tangentially involved in the shooting death of a young mother?
Evidently, yes.
Not one team I contacted Wednesday – including some teams that might be in a position to draft Miller, and others that won’t – thought his draft position would suffer in any way because of his role in the shooting. All were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely.
“I think, probably not? I’d be very surprised if it did,” said one executive from a team currently not in position to draft Miller in his current expected range.
Said another executive, whose team also isn’t in the running: “I don’t believe there will be any impact unless he lies in his interviews. Integrity is more relevant than criminal friends; one we can fix, the other, we can’t.”
Advertisement
Said a third, whose team … could be: “I don’t think it will impact his draft stock unless he ends up being charged with something.”
Said a fourth (ditto): “Intel (on Miller) is coming back pretty good.”
Miller met with media members Wednesday at Wintrust Arena, where the NBA Combine is happening this week. It was awkward. He was comfortable at times when the topic was basketball, displaying a sly sense of humor. He was asked about comparisons between him and Paul George, and if he modeled his game after the eight-time All-Star. He said yes, but then added, after a beat: “Indiana Pacers Paul George, better than current Paul George. I think that’s when he was in his prime.” Miller knows he needs to add weight to his 200-pound frame.
But the tenor changed when reporters began asking about Harris’ death.
He was asked how teams addressed the shooting with him, and what message he presented to them. Every team, he said, asked him about the shooting.
“The message that I presented to them was, just, I saw a lesson learned,” Miller said Wednesday. “You just always have to be aware of your surroundings, and what you’re surrounded by. I feel like that night could have changed my career in less than a heartbeat. So, just always be aware of your surroundings.”
I asked what he told teams about what happened that night.
“Just what I’ve learned about the situation,” he said, going no further.
Another reporter asked if he would do anything different that night.
“Like I said, just be more aware of my surroundings, and what I’m surrounded by. I think that could have changed the whole night,” he said.
I asked what changes he’d made since then.
“Most definitely,” he said. “Just always checking my surroundings, and surrounding myself with guys, that are just pro guys, that I want to be around.”
Advertisement
Miller has mentors. He’s close with Cavs guard Darius Garland – “literally, like my big brother,” Miller said. “I talk to him every day. Sometimes we just have moments and just chill, and talk at his house. I think it’s kind of, I mean, it’s important to have guys like that to sit down and talk to, just from a mental state. Everybody in the world should have a mentor like that.” He’s close with Arkansas guard Nick Smith, also a potential top-10 pick; the two played for Bradley Beal Elite, one of AAU’s top programs. Beal has encouraged him as well, he said.
Whoever drafts Brandon Miller will, most assuredly, get a great basketball player. But he, and they, will have to do some real soul searching as they think about what they want to say that day, on the dais, when he’s introduced in his new city as the Next Great One. They will have to think about what he wants to do in the community that he will become a part of, whether he will make contributions, financial and otherwise, to local organizations that deal with gun violence. And they will have to say the name of Jamea Jonae Harris on that day, and say it over and over in the years to come. Because her name should never be far from his consciousness, forever.
(Photo: Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k25pcmhpaHxzfJFsZmltX2aFcL%2FOppyoppVixKq4y2abq5mWqXqjvsCnm6imXaK2rbjEq2ShoZedeqPB02alqGWfo7Juv8eorKWcXZu8s7PErWStoJViuaqyxGajnp6kYq%2BmtMinm2g%3D