(Reuters) – Free agent O.J. Mayo has been “dismissed and disqualified” from the National Basketball Association for violating the league’s anti-drug program, the NBA announced on Friday. In line with the anti-drug program, no details of Mayo’s violation were publicly disclosed by the league and the 28-year-old guard is eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.
Taken with the third overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Mayo was suspended by the NBA for 10 games in 2011 after testing positive for a banned steroid.
At the time, Mayo said his positive test was the result of taking an over-the-counter supplement that contained the banned steroid DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone).
A runner-up to the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose for Rookie of the Year honors in 2009, Mayo has played in 547 career NBA games for the Memphis Grizzlies, the Dallas Mavericks and the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 13.8 points and 3.1 rebounds. In March, he was ruled out for the rest of his final season with the Bucks because of a fractured right ankle.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Andrew Both)
Reuters
