Mike Miller may sue the Miami Heat

[LooseCannon]

Via Deadspin:

According to the lawsuit, Miller was introduced to a con man named Haider Zafar by Stephen Weber, who was then the Heat's executive vice president of sales. At the time, Zafar had purchased $3 million worth of courtside seats from the Heat, but was delinquent with his payments. Miller claims that Weber urged him to meet with Zafar, and the two agreed on a business deal that ended with Zafar defrauding Miller out of $1.7 million. Miller claims that Zafar then used $700,000 of that stolen money to pay off part of his debt to the Heat.

The key allegation in Miller's lawsuit is not that Weber introduced him to Zafar, but that he did so knowing full well that Zafar was a shady con man who was very likely looking to steal from Miller.

I find this story a bit hilarious.  If you were thinking of it, a Deadspin commenter has already beat you to the obvious joke about Miller being an expert in conning the Heat out of millions of dollars.  I also wonder just how many tickets that $3 million bought.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Via Deadspin:

According to the lawsuit, Miller was introduced to a con man named Haider Zafar by Stephen Weber, who was then the Heat's executive vice president of sales. At the time, Zafar had purchased $3 million worth of courtside seats from the Heat, but was delinquent with his payments. Miller claims that Weber urged him to meet with Zafar, and the two agreed on a business deal that ended with Zafar defrauding Miller out of $1.7 million. Miller claims that Zafar then used $700,000 of that stolen money to pay off part of his debt to the Heat.

The key allegation in Miller's lawsuit is not that Weber introduced him to Zafar, but that he did so knowing full well that Zafar was a shady con man who was very likely looking to steal from Miller.

I find this story a bit hilarious.  If you were thinking of it, a Deadspin commenter has already beat you to the obvious joke about Miller being an expert in conning the Heat out of millions of dollars.  I also wonder just how many tickets that $3 million bought.

Definitely a good joke. I'll add that Miller's gonna have a tough time proving that Weber knew that Miller was gonna get conned.

[PhoSita]

To the point about Mike Miller being a con man, I'd say he more than earned his money with the Heat considering how many threes he hit in the playoffs.

[mgent]

To the point about Mike Miller being a con man, I'd say he more than earned his money with the Heat considering how many threes he hit in the playoffs.

1 per game? (58 total in 58 games)  4ppg in 14min on 40% overall.

Equals 16.2 million?  That means a 3 in the playoffs is worth 280k?  I think any D-Leaguer they sign could hit more than 2 3s in over 800 playoff minutes (and not be injured half the time).  If they thought he was "more than earning his money" why'd they stop paying him?

[SHAQATTACK]

Cry me a river

[PhoSita]

To the point about Mike Miller being a con man, I'd say he more than earned his money with the Heat considering how many threes he hit in the playoffs.

1 per game? (58 total in 58 games)  4ppg in 14min on 40% overall.

Equals 16.2 million?  That means a 3 in the playoffs is worth 280k?  I think any D-Leaguer they sign could hit more than 2 3s in over 800 playoff minutes (and not be injured half the time).  If they thought he was "more than earning his money" why'd they stop paying him?

Oh come now, you can't look at the stats.  Obviously statistically he was awful.

But didn't you watch the Heat in the playoffs over the last couple of years?  Mike Miller had a bunch of clutch shots for them.

They stopped paying him, by the way, because they simply had cap constraints.

I'm not suggesting Miller wasn't overpaid, on the whole, but the "Mike Miller is a con artist" thing suggests that he didn't not earn any of his money and just sat on the bench, which isn't at all the case.

[mgent]

To the point about Mike Miller being a con man, I'd say he more than earned his money with the Heat considering how many threes he hit in the playoffs.

1 per game? (58 total in 58 games)  4ppg in 14min on 40% overall.

Equals 16.2 million?  That means a 3 in the playoffs is worth 280k?  I think any D-Leaguer they sign could hit more than 2 3s in over 800 playoff minutes (and not be injured half the time).  If they thought he was "more than earning his money" why'd they stop paying him?

Oh come now, you can't look at the stats.  Obviously statistically he was awful.

But didn't you watch the Heat in the playoffs over the last couple of years?  Mike Miller had a bunch of clutch shots for them.

They stopped paying him, by the way, because they simply had cap constraints.

I'm not suggesting Miller wasn't overpaid, on the whole, but the "Mike Miller is a con artist" thing suggests that he didn't not earn any of his money and just sat on the bench, which isn't at all the case.

You're talking about an Eddie House type role.  Of course Miller made shots but he also missed shots and was paid the entire MLE (when they really needed a PG and C) to play a bigger role than he did (ala Battier and Ray).  The guy was even outplayed by Noris Cole. 

And no team would just amnesty a reasonably paid player because "they simply had cap constraints."  To save money you get a draft pick and trade exception.  However no team would take him because HE WASN'T EARNING HIS MONEY, let alone "more than earning his money."

A. You definitely ARE saying Miller wasn't overpaid by saying his playoff 3s and clutch shots were enough to more than earn his money, and B. nobody is suggesting Mike Miller literally conned the Heat out of money.  He earned his money the same way any other player does, by what they did BEFORE they signed the contract.  We're talking about actual worth, which means you have to look at whether they lived up to the expectations.

Calling him a con artist was an obvious joke.  It means the same thing as overpaid.....

[lightspeed5]

read the story, the heat are less classy than i thought. they literally tried to scam one of their own

[Moranis]

The key part is that at the time the meeting was set up the con man was delinquent on his payments to the Heat.  The Heat executive VP had to know that.  Then the Heat gladly took the 700k that was defrauded from Miller to satisfy the debt of the con man.  Therein lies the rub for the Heat.

[BballTim]

To the point about Mike Miller being a con man, I'd say he more than earned his money with the Heat considering how many threes he hit in the playoffs.

  Not to mention his taking a below market contract to join the team in the first place.

[hpantazo]

read the story, the heat are less classy than i thought. they literally tried to scam one of their own

I hope they try to scam Ray Allen next.

[Celtics4ever]

I guess the nickname cHeat really applies here.

[PhoSita]

Calling him a con artist was an obvious joke.  It means the same thing as overpaid.....

Yeah, I disagree.

[Snakehead]

Mike Miller's weakness has always been health.  He is a good player, great shooter, good passer and rebounder for his position.

Even with all that, he is pretty much a less extreme JD Drew for the Red Sox with the big shots he hit to win them titles.

[mgent]

Calling him a con artist was an obvious joke.  It means the same thing as overpaid.....

Yeah, I disagree.

Disagree with what?  You're not the decider of what's a joke and what's not, the person saying it is.

I find this story a bit hilarious.  If you were thinking of it, a Deadspin commenter has already beat you to the obvious joke about Miller being an expert in conning the Heat out of millions of dollars. 

Either that person has inside knowledge regarding Mike Miller previously conning money from the Heat, or he's remarking on the coincidence that Miller didn't perform like the typical NBA player earning 5-6mil a year.

I guess you didn't read the OP, like how you didn't your own post about him more than earning his money.  And what's the point of posting that you disagree without any commentary concerning why or even about what? (I think it's against the site rules?)  You still haven't made clear which side you're arguing about (whether Miller was or wasn't overpaid).