O.J. Mayo Violates NBA Anti-Drug Program, Dismissed From League

Free agent guard O.J. Mayo has been dismissed and disqualified from the NBA for violating their anti-drug program.

O.J. Mayo entered free agency this summer looking to strike gold, as NBA teams are throwing around money with the salary cap increasing to about $94 million.

He will no longer be taking part in the hectic free agent period, as Mayo has been dismissed and disqualified from the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug program.

Marc J. Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated reported the news via his Twitter account.

The 28-year-old guard was previously suspended 10 games in 2011 for performance-enhancing drugs for a positive DHEA test, which he blamed on the consumption of an energy drink from a gas station.

That suspension, or PED’s in general, cannot be the reason that Mayo was dismissed today because PED’s do not fall under the league’s designation of “drugs of abuse.”

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We will not know for sure what drug or drugs Mayo is being suspended for because, per league rules, the NBA, NBA teams and the Players Association aren’t allowed to publicly disclose information regarding the Anti-Drug program, other than to announce a player’s suspension or league dismissal.

But, we have an idea based off the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. The drugs of abuse that appear on the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement as a reason for being dismissed and disqualified are amphetamines and its analogs, cocaine, LSD, opiates (heroin, codeine and morphine), and PCP. According to the NBA’s anti-drug policy, a two-year ban comes only when a positive test for one of those aforementioned drugs occurs.

Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated shared other reasons that would trigger dismissal and disqualification from the league on his Twitter account.

Mayo was originally selected No.3 overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a draft day deal that involved the fifth overall pick, which turned out to be Kevin Love.

Mayo had arguably the best season of his career his rookie year, when he averaged 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

He spent the first four seasons of his NBA career with the Grizzlies, before playing one season with the Dallas Mavericks in 2012-13. He then signed a three-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent the last three seasons of his career.

Mayo fractured his ankle in March this past season, which forced him to miss the end of the season and was just another blow in the worst season of his career. Mayo failed to reach double-digit scoring for the first time in his career, averaging only 7.8 points per game and playing in a career-low 41 games.

The last player that was permanently banned from the NBA was center Chris Andersen. He was later re-instated, so there is a chance that Mayo could continue his NBA career in two years when he can first apply for reinstatement. But, there is no guarantee that he will be as well, according to the CBA:

"“Reinstatement shall be granted only with the prior approval of both the NBA and the Players Association, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. The approval of the NBA and the Players Association shall rest in their absolute and sole discretion, and their decision shall be final, binding, and unappealable.”"

Mayo will have a chance to appeal in two years, but he has to make the most of his time until then to show that he has changed.

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Hopefully he can get the help that he needs and get his life back on track as his basketball career will be put on hold for at least the next two years.