For 16 seasons, C.J. Miles played professional basketball in the NBA. Drafted 34th overall by the Utah Jazz in 2005, he spent his first seven seasons with the team, becoming the youngest player in franchise history at 18. Known for his three-point shooting, Miles went on to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards, and the Boston Celtics. 

Upon retiring from the NBA, Miles rediscovered his love for photography. Initially, he began shooting to document his life, his family, travel, everyday snapshots, and to preserve his family's history. Eventually, the camera became a way for him to hold onto life's moments, and it became his passion, which led him to other modes of artistic expression.

“When I first got in the league, I dabbled in a lot of things. I got a camera, but I didn't really stick with it,” Miles told BET.com. “Before I was completely done playing, it came back around when my kids put it back in my hand. It reminded me how much I love to do it. Now, I don't leave the house without a camera. Now, I always have one within a couple of feet of me. It's one sitting on my desk right now.”

“I’ve also been writing more. I started doing songwriting, but then I wanted to figure out how to tell stories. The more you get into words,  it’s more about imagery than it is anything,” he continued. “So what pulled me really back deeper into it was like, if I can control my imagery, I can control my storytelling better. Then I just started to merge them.”

Recently, Miles showed off his pen game with an essay for Slam Magazine, one of the most revered basketball publications. In the essay, he explored how his love of basketball was preparation for his current vocation as a photographer.

“I just did a piece for Slam, and I talked about when I went to the NBA Rookie Transition Program. I taught a class on creativity to the incoming class. When basketball becomes your job, and you've been playing basketball your whole life, you don't understand how much you’ll miss that creative outlet when you retire,” he explained. “It’s a change because a lot of guys do nothing but play basketball.”

For Miles, the same skill set that made him a world-class athlete allowed him to thrive as a photographer. According to Miles, when you find another vehicle for self-expression, it becomes an extension of all your development as an athlete.

“Transferable skills are one of the things I teach to a lot of young players. When I coached an AAU team last year, we talked to them about being men and understanding that basketball is what you do. It's a tool for expression. It's not who you are,” Miles said. “There are a lot of skills that come from anything that you actually love to do that are transferable to something new. 

“So I know I'm disciplined. I know how to take information and apply it. I know I have a focus,” Miles continued. “I have a vision and imagination. I know I have these things. It's just what's the next thing that pulls me the same way basketball was. That's what happened to me and photography.”

When he jumped into photography, he immediately noticed that it never felt like work. For Miles he pursued photography with the same intentionality as he worked on his basketball game.

“It was so easy to fall into because I recognized that voice. It sounded just like basketball did when I was growing up. It was nothing for me to sit out in my backyard, in front of a tree, and just play with the camera until I figured it out. It didn't feel like work, just like basketball didn't feel like work,” Miles said. “I genuinely enjoy doing every type of thing I do with writing, photography, and storytelling. I have no problem studying. It’s just like when I watched game film.”

Miles also said the high-level athletes have the prerequisite skills to transition into leadership roles in corporations. The concepts of teamwork, adaptation, innovation, and creativity are the essential characteristics that are attractive to CEO’s.

“There are CEOs of billion-dollar companies who only hire basketball players because of the skill set that comes with working on the team and the type of work ethic they have,” said Miles. “Especially guys who make it to the Pros or very high D1 level. They’re able to take in information, apply it in pressure situations. It’s like being in the fourth quarter with 10 seconds left. ‘Can you go run the play?’ That's no different than your boss coming to you saying, ‘We have an emergency. Can you make it happen?”

Along with his other assignments and personal projects, Miles has had opportunities to stay around the NBA with his photography, which is a full-circle moment for him.

“I did a photo exhibit with photos I took from the NBA Finals last year. Then I shot Summer League Games,” Miles shared/ “I also shot a Raptors practice during summer league, and I'm supposed to do some more work with them during the season. We got a photo shoot set, and it's gonna be a cool project. Hopefully leads to more stuff being done with them.”

Miles also shared how he snuck his camera into the arena to shoot Game 7 of the Finals.

“I shot game seven of the Finals for my seat. I had to sneak my camera into the building because I couldn't get a media pass.  I played for the Pacers. So shout out to Karen, who works for the Pacers,” he recalled. “I met with her a couple of hours before the game, and I gave her my bag, and she brought it in through the back with the team, because they wouldn't stop her from bringing the camera in.”

“I took my ticket to my seat, and I sat in my seat, and she brought the camera to me. With a few minutes left in the game, security finally told me I had to stop shooting. By then, I had everything I needed,” he laughed.

When asked when is a good time for pro athletes to consider other interests, Miles said they should have an open mind and try new things as soon as possible. It will change their approach to the game and could change their life when they retire.

“You just have to listen long enough to get curious. It’s hard to do this in the NBA. I don't want to make this sound easy, especially when you're young and you're making more money than you ever made in your life. It's hard to sit still and be like, ‘Well, what do I actually want to do?”

“Everything is moving so fast. You've got games every other day,” he continued.
But at some point, you've got to figure out a way to maneuver and find what speaks to your creativity.”