Former St. Joe’s forward Isaiah Miles returned to Philadelphia for NBA training camp, as he competed for a roster spot on the Philadelphia 76ers before being waived by the team on Oct. 19. He will likely sign with the 76ers’ G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats with a signing bonus.
Miles had previously played on the team’s summer league squad in 2017 and 2018. He last played for Limoges CSP in France’s Pro-A league where he averaged 9.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game last season.
Did you ever think that your professional basketball journey would lead you back to Philadelphia? How does it feel to return back here?
It’s a dream and a blessing obviously to be able to do this at this point in my career. Just being close to home, to my family and friends who haven’t really seen me play in the past three years since I’ve been playing overseas. Being able to see them and just being in America in general feels good, it feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders. My mom’s coming to every game, especially at St. Joe’s even when I wasn’t playing that much, so being able to carry on that ritual that we’ve had, it feels good for me.
What was your first thought after signing with the Sixers?
It didn’t hit me until I put on my jersey on Media Day. I was like, ‘Yo this shit’s for real.’ That’s when it hit me, when we had [Sixers] Media Day, we suited up and I put on the jersey and I was like, ‘Yo this has my name on the back, this shit stitched, like yo this shit’s for real, this shit’s amazing.’ [In the summer league] you get like a little pinnie, an ironed on pinnie. We got the stitched, it’s official with the last name on the back. That was definitely a surreal feeling for sure.
What goals did you have for yourself coming into training camp?
I would say just making a roster spot, that was really the only one. I’m kind of known for being my biggest critic and hardest on myself, so being able to not put that much pressure on me, just to kind of relax and focus on the now and understand that I’m in an NBA situation and that’s a blessing in itself. Previously, I never played against NBA competition before unless it was summer league so just seeing how I matchup. Playing pickup, just seeing how I do against Ben Simmons, or Joel [Embiid], or Mike Scott, or Al Horford, dudes you watch on TV who are all-stars, just being on the same floor as them you kind of see yourself and say, ‘How do I really lineup against these guys? Am I ready to be in this league? Does my physicality match their physicality?’ So just keeping mindful of that, taking mental notes. I wanted to make it out of training camp, but I also wanted to learn as much as I can while I’m here.
Is there one particular player on the team this year that you have learned a lot from?
Mike Scott. He plays the same position as me. Me and him have the same skillset, so I’ve just been talking to him everyday, kind of watching him, watching how he plays on the court. He’s not a guy that you’ll look for to get you 30 points, but he’s a guy that’ll make big shots and play defense. I’ll ask him ‘What’s your mindset when you go on the court? What do you look for?’ Just picking his brain because he’s in the position where I want to be, especially as a role player on a championship caliber team and the Sixers are a championship caliber team, so being a role player for that team isn’t a bad job.
What would be your message to current St. Joe’s player that hope to follow your path?
Hard work pays off, don’t give up. You can look at my stats, from my freshman to junior year I played five, six minutes a game and averaged one point, three points, something crazy like that. A lot of people told me to stop playing, people told me to transfer, people told me to try to be a coach or something, but I stayed the course, kept my head down, stayed with God, and just worked and that showed. That showed in my senior season where I got most improved player of the year, averaged 18 and 9. Just believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else is going to believe in you. It’s all cliche, but it works, it definitely works. You get the universe to unfold when you do stuff like that.
What does it say about St. Joe’s basketball to have four players competing for NBA roster spots?
It shows a little brotherhood, a camaraderie. Deandre [Bembry] and Langston [Galloway], they were in me and Charlie [Brown’s] shoes at one point. We have each other’s back and we all want to see each other succeed. Langston still texts me, I still text Deandre, we’re still a close knit family. We still text each other a bunch of encouragement like ‘you got this, stay confident.’ Every time we see each other it’s all love. It’s really like a family vibe, a brotherhood. It’s definitely important for me and it’s important for them.
