Just checking out the RealGM Portland board. Interesting from the other perspective.
Here are some thoughts from a poster named Wizenheimer that I found interesting:
First of all, I'm thinking that Ainge is holding a grudge against KP and the Blazers. KP flummoxed him in the telfair trade, and then the blazers leapfrogged the Celts and landed Oden. I think Ainge has been on a slow boil about that for a couple of years. He also...IIRC...left portland on somewhat poor terms back in his playing days, and had a couple of unflattering things to say back then. So this may be his "revenge is a dish best tasted cold" moment.
The next thing will be if Miles can survive a training camp and exhibition season. It will be interesting to see how much he actually participates.
Then, it's going to be real interesting to see what the reaction will be from KP and the blazer management. . Will they challenge the CBA considering that section of the rules has never been tested before? After all, they went through all the CBA mandated procedures in apparent good faith.
And if Miles does play, the blazers will have to explain that fact in comparison to all their assessments otherwise. They will have lost not only the cap-space, but also the opportunity to leverage Miles's expiring contract into something.
Science and medicine always have uncertainty. If someone has a 98% chance of dying from a disease, that means that some people, even if it is only a small minority, don't die from it. Miles being able to play would really be that controversial, nor would it mean that the doctors game him the wrong advice.
We have such a warped view of medicine in the US, and that might be part of the reason why people are so lawsuit happy.
What is ironic is people expect doctors to see the future, yet have no standards whatsoever for hucksters like homeopathy practitioners.
The dude had a devastating injury and might have overcome it. If so, he's fortunate, and perhaps admirable.