Free agent guard O.J. Mayo has been "dismissed and disqualified" from the NBA for violating the league's Anti-Drug program, the league announced. He will be able to apply for reinstatement after two years.
O.J. Mayo banned from the NBA for 2 years for violating anti-drug program
Mayo will be able to apply for reinstatement in two years.
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
The league announced that Mayo was dismissed, but in accordance with the rules agreed upon by NBA teams and the Players’ Association, it can’t disclose information about the testing or treatment of players under the Anti-Drug Program.
It's unlikely the ban has come from the use of PEDs. Mayo was suspended for 10 games in 2011 for the use of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which he later claimed he ingested unknowingly through an energy drink. Despite that incident, the league has a three-strike policy when it comes to PEDs and Mayo was never reported a second time.
The league’s Anti-Drug Program does state that it can perform random tests or reasonable cause tests and a player can be “dismissed and disqualified” from the league for testing positive just once for a “drug of abuse,” an umbrella term than includes MDMA, cocaine, LSD, opiates and PCP, among others.
Mayo will be able to apply for reinstatement in two years. The last player to receive the same punishment as Mayo was Chris Andersen in 2006. He was reinstated in 2008.
See More:
