I wrote earlier this week that, unfortunately, Adam Silver would be put to the test on a domestic abuse case with an NBA player sooner rather than later. This was sooner than anyone expected, but Mr. Silver welcome to the spotlight.
The Charlotte Hornet’s Jeff Taylor has been arrested on a charge of domestic assault, reports NBC affiliate WCNC of Charlotte. The arrest took place in East Lansing, Michigan.
There are not many details on the case yet, as we get them we will bring them to you.
This is the second high-profile domestic violence athletic case in the Charlotte area: The Panther Greg Hardy is awaiting trial on charges against him.
Taylor missed most of last season with a ruptured Achilles, but he was going to be back for Hornets training camp, which opens next week.
Earlier this week Silver said the NBA would review its domestic violence policies. Those policies allow the NBA a lot of flexibility to suspend a player convicted in a domestic violence case, he would face a minimum 10-game suspension (1/8th of the NBA season, which is what the NFL gave Ray Rice with a two-game suspension) but the league has the flexibility to go much higher.
However the NBA has traditionally waited for the justice system to play out in these cases before making a move. Those wheels of justice can grind slowly and — take it from a guy who spent part of his journalism career on crime/police beats — with domestic violence cases the charges are often dropped or decreased even in the most obvious of cases (see Ray Rice). Three NBA players who had domestic violence cases pop up in the past year all had their legal cases dropped. The league did not act on any of them.
The NBA can no longer sit back and wait for the legal system, although that likely means investigating cases themselves now. It’s an uncomfortable spot for the league.
Whatever happens here case will put the NBA in a national spotlight on the issue.