While free agents such as Kent Bazemore and Timofey Mozgov are cashing in on the crazy free agency period, things are going much worse for free agent shooting guard O.J. Mayo. He will not be signing with anybody, because he has been “dismissed and disqualified” by the NBA for violation of the league’s Anti-Drug Program.
Here is the NBA release. O.J. Mayo can't reapply to the league for two years after failing anti-drug program. pic.twitter.com/XyMlBbwUxE
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 1, 2016
In the NBA CBA, it says, "If a player tests positive for a drug of abuse, he will be dismissed and disqualified from the NBA."
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) July 1, 2016
This is the suspension a player gets for using a “drug of abuse.” It’s not a PED suspension or a marijuana suspension, but what it is we can’t say for sure. It’s the same suspension Chris “Birdman” Andersen received in 2006, for a reference point. Mayo is not allowed to apply for reinstatement for two years.
Under terms of the joint NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug program, Mayo is eligible to apply for reinstatement to the league in two years.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2016
Mayo has run afoul of the NBA’s drug policy in the past. He was once suspended 10 games for testing positive for a PED he claimed came from an energy drink he bought at a gas station. This is obviously a different, and much more serious, thing.
Mayo, the third overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and a high-school phenom, has never really lived up to those lofty standards. By the time he is eligible to be reinstated, he will be 30 years old. It’s possible at that point he will get a second chance with an NBA team, but this could very well be the end of O.J. Mayo’s NBA career.
Here’s hoping he gets the help he needs whether that means a successful return to the league or otherwise.
