Miles Paying His Rookie Dues

Once rookie Darius Miles opened the season as a starter it didn’t seem likely that he would ever read “DNP--Coach’s decision” by his name on a Clipper box score this season.

But after starting the first five games and then being one of the first players off the bench for the next three, Miles did not play at all in the Clippers’ victory over New York on Wednesday.

“I doubt if Darius will ever have another [did not play] his whole career,” Coach Alvin Gentry said before the Clippers played at Vancouver Thursday night.

“[Miles] not playing did not have anything [to do] with me not having confidence in him. He’s playing the fourth most minutes out of all the rookies in the league. It was just a situation I felt was better suited for different personnel [against the Knicks].”

Against the Grizzlies, Miles entered the game with 10:17 remaining in the second quarter and played well but didn’t attempt a shot in 12 minutes.

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Lamar Odom and Michael Olowokandi represent the Clippers as candidates on the All-Star game ballot. Fans will select the starters for both the Eastern and Western conferences for the 50th All-Star game, to be played at MCI Center in Washington on Feb. 11. Balloting runs from Nov. 13 to Jan. 14. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1984, only three Clippers have participated in an All-Star game, with Danny Manning the last to do so in 1994.