Greg Monroe Suspended: Pistons Big Man Throwing Money Away
Rule No. 1 of being an NBA player states that you must give a reasonable effort to stay out of trouble. The fine print under that rule makes reference to those who will be unrestricted free agents the next season — such as Greg Monroe — and how it’s is absolutely imperative that you stay on your best behavior from start to finish.
So much for that. Instead of getting to see him begin his campaign to be one of the most sought-after big men in the 2015 free agent class, we’ve gotten news that we’ll see Greg Monroe suspended for the first two games of the 2014-15 season (per NBA press release). He was charged with (and pleaded guilty to) driving while visibly impaired — otherwise known as a DUI or DWI (depending where you live).
The embarrassment didn’t stop there either. Having a .09 bodily alcohol content will get you a DUI in Michigan (.08 legal limit), which is bad enough, but Mlive.com reported that Monroe “urinated on himself during the booking process.”
| Season | Age | Tm | G | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 20 | DET | 80 | 27.8 | .551 | .000 | .552 | .622 | 7.5 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 9.4 |
| 2011-12 | 21 | DET | 66 | 31.5 | .521 | .000 | .522 | .739 | 9.7 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 15.4 |
| 2012-13 | 22 | DET | 81 | 33.2 | .486 | .000 | .488 | .689 | 9.6 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 16.0 |
| 2013-14 | 23 | DET | 82 | 32.8 | .497 | .000 | .497 | .657 | 9.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 15.2 |
| Career | 309 | 31.3 | .508 | .000 | .509 | .678 | 9.0 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 14.0 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/11/2014.
The 6-foot-10 power forward for the Detroit Pistons recently accepted the qualifying offer of $5.4 million instead of a longer-term deal, in order to pursue other deals as an unrestricted free agent next summer. We talk a lot about contract year players and how they can do a lot to help (or hurt) their cases, which is just another reason why the timing of this is terrible for Monroe.
For Monroe, the best-case scenario is that he learns his lesson and never lets anything like this happen again. I don’t want to give him a pass simply because “nothing bad happened,” but the fact is, this is a 24-year-old multi-millionaire who made a mistake. Learning from this mistake and growing as a person is what we should all hope for.
Monroe feels the same way, in this statement released by the Pistons:
"I take full responsibility for my actions and make a regrettable mistake. I apologize to my family, the Pistons organization, my teammates and fans. I will learn from this and continue to work to be a positive influence in the community."
This isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) DUI by a professional basketball player. In the last calendar year, we’ve seen P.J. Tucker of the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer and new Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd get into alcohol-related trouble. Let’s hope for the sake of the NBA and all the law-abiding families out there that the remarkable fortune of minimal damage and injuries continues. Often times it takes tragedy for people to change their habits. Let’s hope it’s not the case for Monroe.