Darius Miles gets caught with a loaded gun at a St. Louis airport

Since the weeks leading up to his selection in the 2000 NBA draft, and continuing through Wednesday, Darius Miles has never been known for making smart decisions. Whether it was begging off of pre-draft drills, cursing out his coaches, refusing to develop what the kids call "a go-to move," or getting caught in an airport with a loaded gun, Miles has been quite the disappointment.

Oh, you didn't hear? Yeah, Darius Miles tried to make it through airport security in St. Louis' Lambert Airport on Wednesday with a loaded gun on him.

From STLToday:

Miles, 29, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. after Transportation Security Administration personnel discovered the weapon during an X-ray screening at the airport, according to information from a TSA spokeswoman and a jail official. Miles was arrested by St. Louis airport police, then booked into the St. Louis County jail in Clayton.

It was unclear whether the gun was found in luggage or whether Miles was carrying it. The weapon was discovered at the Concourse A checkpoint. Authorities did not say what type of gun was seized.

Does it matter which sort of weapon was seized? It was loaded, people. Loaded. The guy had a loaded gun on him. To take into an airplane. Possibly a California Pizza Kitchen before that, but definitely to take into an airplane eventually, whether it was stuck on his hip or on his carry-on luggage.

In more depressing news, the report of the incident also points out that Darius Miles is 29 years old.

This is sad for a number of reasons, paramount of which is either the knowledge that a 29-year-old would attempt to take a loaded gun onto a plane (I used to fly in and out of that airport regularly back in college over a decade ago, and I was worried about the legality of my Walkman; which for you youngsters out there is a type of cassette player that is attached to a pair of headphones), or the sad fact that at age 29 Miles should be in the prime of his NBA career. Even if he never turned out to be a mini-Kevin Garnett, Miles had the talent to make it until his late 30s in the NBA.

He shouldn't have turned into a joke of a blog post at age 29. That much is certain. What a shame.

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