Pacers guard Tyreke Evans has been dismissed and disqualified from the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug program, the NBA announced today in a press release. According to the announcement, Evans will be eligible to apply for reinstatement after two years.
“We take these matters seriously and will reach out to Tyreke to offer our support,” the Pacers said in a statement.
Evans, 29, was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft and has spent 10 years playing in the NBA for the Kings, Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Pacers. He had a down year in 2018/19 after signing a one-year, $12.4MM contract with Indiana, averaging 10.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 2.4 APG with a career-worst .389 FG% in 69 games (20.3 MPG).
The specific details surrounding Evans’ violation are unclear, but he isn’t the first player to be hit with this type of two-year ban. The league dismissed former top-five pick O.J. Mayo in 2016, with reports suggesting that Mayo’s violation was related to a “drug of abuse” rather than PEDs or marijuana.
Chris Andersen was also banned from the NBA for two years from 2006 to 2008, with his dismissal linked to an alleged “drug of abuse” as well.
Evans, who had been on track for unrestricted free agency this summer, now won’t be eligible to return to the NBA until at least the 2021/22 season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wow!!!!! Shcoking news!
Makes Pacers offseason resigning plans a little clearer though
not really. he sucks and wouldn’t have been brought back
Farwell Tyreke
Oh shoot
Yep that’s what he did lol.
guy looks straight edge to me
What a talented player but when the mindset is off, this is what happens. Maybe he can come back in two years and become a bench player for a playoff team like Anderson did for the Heat, but pretty unlikely by that point.
Anderson was a pretty successful role player for the nuggets before he went to the heat and barely played
Man that sucks. He could have been a contributor on a good team next year and made a couple million.
Just goes to show addiction impacts everyone.
Anybody familiar with the real meaning of ”drug of abuse” Guessing it could be cocaine or meth. Would that be possible conclusions?
Probably coke, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was meth for Birdman.
Birdman was coke. Robert Swift on the other hand….
Yess?
Predict heroin for Evans.
If you’re curious, the full list can be found at this link, if you scroll down all the way to Exhibit I-2 (“Prohibited substances”) near the bottom: link to nbpa.com
The list includes both cocaine and meth in addition to a host of others.
There are multiple stages to the league’s anti-drug program, so to be dismissed/disqualified, Evans presumably would have had to commit multiple violations.
He’s done. He would have probably gotten a mid level from someone. And even that would have been a stretch. Two years older and he won’t even get that spot.
He had a pretty good career, but it could have been so much more. Not one of the worst ROYs, but not one of the best either. Probably somewhere right in the middle.
His rookie season was excellent, he got 20, 5, 5 or something like that, numbers very similar to Lebron’s rookie season. Obviously that was the only similarity in the rest of their careers
He’ll probably end up playing in China or the Philippines. Best pro leagues in Asia.
Was it the green stuff?
probably the nose stuff
I dont think they ban you for two years for smoking green. Otherwise Z Randolph’s and D Stoudamire’s careers would have been much shorter, at least in the NBA
There are millions of people that would die to switch places with this guy and he goes and shoots himself in the foot.
Cuz having millions makes you perfect. Settle down you woukd spend it on cheese bread
Perfect, no, but smart enough to not do the type of drugs that get you banned from the NBA. Or at least not get caught. Pretty much a no-brainer. And you are wrong, I’d spend my millions on cheese danishes.
Less about the money and more about the incredibly rare opportunity he’s been given (and likely worked his entire life for) and now has blown.
If you look it up you’ll see he’s made 76 million dollars over his career. I wish I could make 76 million then ruin my future earnings.
Sounds like he was shooting but not in his foot…
Wish all sports would just ban them on 2nd time. Drugs or Assaults. Not needed and doesn’t show young ones what’s right and wrong when they just slap their hand.
Rumor has it that it was Sprite and Codene
source?
Not exactly NY Times…but Reddit
Big3 should be blowing him up right now.
You could tell by his hair he was into some heavy stuff.
So if it’s an illegal drug, nothing happens to him from a legal standpoint?
Chris Anderson, OJ Mayo, Tyreke Evans– all played for Memphis… Though to be fair, Birdman not until after the suspension.
They call it a dismissal but then say he can come back. Whatever he was winding down after his PER “high” in Memphis.
What a plank of a guy!!! Nothing more stupid in life than doing drugs… but in his case is gonna cost him around 20MM$ if he can comeback at a decent level or more if he is about done… SMH what a waste of talent!!!
So sad to see such great talent fall. Tyreke screwed up by making his older brother Doc Evans his manager. A manger is suppose to look out for their clients and their clients best interest and their career. Instead his brother/manager hung on to his brothers coat tails like a baby to a nipple, using his brothers fame and NBA status for not only his own personal gain, but to lure young teenage boys (17-19), throwing under age parties and living the DL gay lifestyle.
Tyreke needs to drop his brother, cut the coat tails and focus on his NBA career, dude your own brother is killing your NBA career!!