Forward Wilson Chandler will play his first game for the Nets tonight, following a 25-game suspension to start the season. Chandler tested positive for the banned PED Ipamorelin in August.
He signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract (for $2.6MM) with Brooklyn over the summer. The suspension cost him $582,898 out of that sum, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Chandler’s inaugural bout as a Net will be against his previous team, the Sixers.
He and Nets coach Kenny Atkinson spoke with ESPN’s Malika Andrews for an examination into his time apart from the team. “We will throw him to the wolves,” Atkinson relayed.
During the suspension, Chandler was not allowed inside any arena in which the Nets would play two hours before or after a game. Despite this, Chandler traveled with the Nets for all their road trips outside of a quick October 27th jaunt to Memphis. He watched games from the team hotel, but otherwise he would partake in most team activities, from dining with his teammates to practicing with them.
In his conversation with Andrews, Chandler indicates that he took “small doses” of Ipamorelin under the guidance of his personal physician. “I was trying to get healthy, and I took something I didn’t know was a bad substance,” Chandler told Andrews. “I felt a lot of shame.”
Brooklyn marks the fifth NBA team for the 6’8″, 32 year-old forward. He can guard either forward position, and is a competent long-range shooter, connecting on 34.3% of his 3.8 three-point attempts per game over the course of his 13-year career. Playing for the Sixers and Clippers in 2018/19, Chandler averaged 6.0 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 23.1 MPG. He shot 37.3% from deep on 3.2 attempts last season.
Could the suspension affect Chandler’s free agency next season, or his tradeability this season? It appears this notion has at least been on his mind. “You’re focused on reading other people’s minds and how they look at you,” Chandler said. “Your teammates, other teams, coaches, GMs, everyone in the league office — you’re wondering how they feel about you.”
If his on-court performance contributes significantly to Brooklyn’s season (the Nets are 13-12, good for the No. 7 seed in the East), it could go a long way towards mitigating any PR hits incurred by the suspension.
It must be a crime because he’s not coming clean. He messed up his body-building and blamed his “physician”. Ipamorelin stimulaes HGH which is always illegal and has no other function.