[WizardofOzParticipant]

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/24156827

NBA players Brandon Rush, Tyreke Evans, Kenny Hasbrouck suspended for various games this season.
Posted by Matt Moore

The NBA today suspended Brandon Rush, Kenny Hasbrouck, and Tyreke Evans for games starting in the 2010 NBA season.

Rush is at once the most surprising and most severe, getting five games for violating the NBA’s drug policy. Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports that this is Rush’s third violation of the drug program , which automatically leads to a five-game suspension. Evans recevied a one game suspension for his little joyride last April . Hasbrouck had been arrested for driving while intoxicated in New York, and received two games.

Evans is the highest profile player, and his absence will make the Kings’ season opener in Minnesota a pick ’em. Were it a better team, they would undoubtedly be underdogs in that game.

Rush, though, made strides last season, and this is a significant step backwards. It’s not know at this time if the violation was for recreational drug use or violation for use of a banned substance as was the case with Rashard Lewis last season.

Hasbrouck was unlikely to see time for the Heat at all, and especially not for the first two games of the season. The Heat also had to expect this result after Hasbrouck’s guilty plea. It’s not known whether Hasbrouck will even make it out of training camp, being a D-League call-up on a championship-expectant team.

The fact that the Pacers were not made aware of the first two violations for Rush, per the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement in order to protect a player’s privacy, is likely to spark some debate. Not being aware of a player’s problems prevents a team from being able to get that player the help he needs. While the concern is unfair treatment towards those players, the inability of a team to support the player through his trouble can be construred to cause more harm than good. It’s especially disappointing because of how Rush has developed, starting to look more and more like a central part of the Pacers’ future.

This comes on the heels of another Pacer likely to face suspension, with Lance Stephenson arrested for assault on his girlfriend and mother of his kids. With how the Pacers have been hyper-aggressive in avoiding low-character players, this could spell a significant downturn for Rush’s career.

[Counting StarsParticipant]

Somebody tell these guys they aren’t in the NFL.

[Counting StarsParticipant]

Somebody tell these guys they aren’t in the NFL.

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

That Kings vs. Minny game is not going to be pretty…

[BasketBalAllanParticipant]

That Kings vs. Minny game is not going to be pretty…

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

This was posted like 3 days ago already.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

This was posted like 3 days ago already.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

Sorry. My bad. I didn’t know it was posted already.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

Sorry. My bad. I didn’t know it was posted already.

[omphalosParticipant]

This is the first I’ve heard of it, thanks for the post from those of us who missed it. I’m surprised Reke only got a one game suspension, but given his RoY award and the fact that nobody was injured in any way during his joyride I guess its understandable.

I’ll be very interested to see what happens with Stephenson; if he beats the rap and it all turns out to be false allegations then he’ll be eating up Rush’s minutes in light of this suspension.

[omphalosParticipant]

This is the first I’ve heard of it, thanks for the post from those of us who missed it. I’m surprised Reke only got a one game suspension, but given his RoY award and the fact that nobody was injured in any way during his joyride I guess its understandable.

I’ll be very interested to see what happens with Stephenson; if he beats the rap and it all turns out to be false allegations then he’ll be eating up Rush’s minutes in light of this suspension.

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