Dirk Minniefield
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Staten Island Stallions | |
| 1987 | Golden State Warriors |
|---|---|
| 1987–1988 | Boston Celtics |
| 1992–1993 | Rochester Renegade |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Dirk DeWayne Minniefield (born January 17, 1961) is an American retired professional
.Early life
Minniefield began regularly using marijuana at age 14. Minniefield, who has been sober since the early 1990s, told a group of top high school prospects in 2007 that "My younger kids have never seen me take a drink. They don't know the daddy the older kids know. They know a totally different guy." (Minniefield was a father of three children by the time he graduated from high school, and has two children from his current marriage[1]).
Drug Issues
His drug problem continued into college. He admitted to having carried a vial of
As fate would have it, he had the ball late in the game, with UK clinging to a narrow lead. He went into the lane and threw up a tentative shot that UofL center Charles Jones blocked. The Cardinals went on to force overtime and then dominated the extra period, winning 80–68. He would later say about the incident,
"It was sad. Because that was the moment. You only have certain moments in your life. You have to seize your moment. I missed my moment. I don't know if the marijuana had an impact. I'm not a doctor. Being a player, I'm going to say that (it did)... Any other time, I would dunk that ball. I know I was depressed about it for probably the first two years after college. It played a part in my drug use, the depression. Being from Lexington, I had to listen (to complaining fans) more than anybody else would."[2]
Minniefield's drug use eventually contributed to the early end of his NBA career. He returned to Lexington, but wound up serving a year in jail after writing bad checks and violating probation on those charges. His first wife divorced him and he left Lexington "penniless". He found his way to the
After treatment, Minniefield worked as transportation manager—according to him, "A better word is van driver"—for the
Notes
- ^ a b c d Tipton, Jerry (June 21, 2007). "A Wildcat erasing mistakes: Minniefield gives warning". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved June 23, 2007. [dead link]
- ^ a b Tipton, Jerry (June 21, 2007). "UK star smoked pot night before game". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved June 23, 2007. [dead link]