Michael Beasley doesn’t have an NBA team. The free agent last played for the Los Angeles Lakers, and despite his contract status, has been suspended by the NBA for five games after violating the league’s anti-drug policy.
A collective scoff by the basketball internet wondered aloud how Beasley could violate the anti-drug policy and get suspended despite not having a team and it being the offseason. Now it appears that Beasley didn’t violate the policy this summer, but instead in the fall of 2018.
Via Twitter:
Source: Michael Beasley’s failed drug test was not recent — it was from October/November 2018 during sabbatical with the Lakers, when his mom was dying with cancer. https://t.co/CeurHy73mj
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 9, 2019
That’s an interesting delay. Beasley played in 26 games for the Lakers in 2018-19, including many in November, December, January, and February. Beasley was not with the team through the end of October through the first two weeks of November in 2018.
Beasley is reportedly eyeing a return to China where he played last season after being waived by the Los Angeles Clippers following his inclusion in the Ivica Zubac deal.