O.J. Mayo Dismissed & Disqualified From NBA For Violating Drug Policy
Milwaukee Bucks free agent guard O.J. Mayo has been dismissed and disqualified from the league for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program, the league announced Friday afternoon.
The exact details of his dismissal – the drugs in question – were not provided by the league.
Mayo, 28, will be eligible to apply for reinstatement to the league in two years.
A former third overall pick in the 2008 draft out of USC, Mayo spent the past three seasons with the Bucks – averaging 7.8 points and 2.9 assists in limited action in 2015-16.
According to the league's collective bargaining agreement, a player who tests positive for drugs of abuse – amphetamines and its analogs, cocaine, LSD, opiates (heroin, codeine and morphine), and PCP – will be dismissed and disqualified from the league.
The length of the dismissal and disqualification (two years) is mandatory, and "may not be rescinded or reduced by the player's team or NBA."
The last player to receive the mandatory ban was former Heat big man Chris "Birdman" Andersen. Andersen, now with the Memphis Grizzlies, was banned from the NBA for using drugs of abuse in 2006 as a member of the then New Orleans Hornets and returned to the league in March of 2008.
In an offseason where every team in the league has cap space and are handing out lucrative, multi-year contracts, Mayo will have to miss out on the cash grab.
