Adam Silver vows to take ‘fresh look’ at NBA domestic violence policies

In light of the NFL’s recent domestic violence problems, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is pledging to take a closer look at the league’s policies, he said at a press conference in New York Monday.

Under the league’s current policy, NBA players who are convicted of a “violent felony” are suspended for at least 10 games. By contrast, the new NFL policy calls for a six-game punishment for the first incident and a lifetime ban for a second offense.

But the NBA policy specifically mentions convictions and not mere arrests, which means several domestic violence cases that ultimately get dismissed go unpunished by the league. Just in the last 12 months, free agent Greg Oden, Toronto Raptors forward James Johnson and former Thunder guard DeAndre Liggins have been arrested and faced domestic violence charges. Liggins was released by the Thunder after his charge and Oden is currently unsigned, but Johnson was signed by the Raptors. No suspension has been announced and charges were dismissed in July.

Previous domestic violence suspensions have been lighter than the policy currently states. In 2007, Metta World Peace (who then went by Ron Artest) was suspended seven games after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. Last season, Boston’s Jared Sullinger was suspended for one game by the Celtics (and not the league) after his domestic violence case was dismissed in court. Others such as Denver’s Ty Lawson, then-Laker Matt Barnes and then-Timberwolf Dante Cunningham avoided suspensions after charges against them were dropped.

Silver will be commended by many for getting ahead of the NFL on a new policy, but really, this is long overdue.