15 Longest Suspensions In NBA History: OJ Mayo Never Played Again

Over the last week or so, we have watched as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars deals with off-the-court issues that have landed him in hot water. Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was suspended for two games for brandishing a firearm on an Instagram live stream. The NBA is currently investigating the incident and the firearm to see if further discipline is warranted. If found to have brought the firearm either to team facilities or on the team plane, Morant could be looking at a suspension of at least 50 games on top of the indefinite suspension he is currently under. Now, Morant’s troubles are not the first of their kind, and he wouldn’t be the first superstar to find himself in trouble with the league, as we are all aware.

For decades, NBA players have been suspended due to their actions either on or off the court. The NBA expects their players to represent them with the highest of moral values and integrity. NBA players are humans too, and mistakes are made, and all can be forgiven in most cases if they work hard to right their wrongs, as so many have done before. Today, we are going to take a look at the NBA players who have served the longest suspensions in NBA history and see how well they were able to recover after the fact. Some made it back to the point where they were before their troubles occurred. Others were never the same.

Here are the NBA players who served the longest suspensions in NBA history.

15. Hedo Turkoglu – 20 Games

During the 2000s, Hedo Turkoglu was seen as one of the premier European forwards in the NBA. He began his career with the Kings, where he averaged just 7.5 PPG and 3.4 RPG over three seasons. In 2004-05 with the Magic, Turkoglu began to show off his all-around game, which led to a Most Improved Player award in 2008, averaging 19.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.0 APG on 45.6% shooting and 40.0% three-point shooting. He helped the Magic reach the 2009 NBA Finals and averaged 14.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.9 APG for them over eight seasons.

In 2013, at age 33, Turkoglu was suspended by the league after testing positive for the banned substance methenolone. The substance is considered an anabolic steroid and highly illegal. Despite the negative test, Turkoglu took full responsibility for his actions and served the entirety of his suspension, stating that he took the medicine as described by a doctor in his home country of Turkey. Turkoglu would play two more seasons in the NBA with the Clippers, a total of 100 games, before retiring in 2015 at the age of 35.

14. Joakim Noah – 20 Games

Joakim Noah is one of the more polarizing basketball personalities in the last 20 years. Noah played with high intensity and never shied away from a battle with the game’s biggest stars. With the Bulls, Noah was a catalyst for the success of the team as an interior defender and leader who took home the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year and two All-Star appearances. After Chicago, Noah moved on to become a member of the New York Knicks, which is where his troubles began.

In his first season with the Knicks, Noah tested positive for a banned substance called ligandrol. Noah was suspended for 20 games causing him to miss the final 10 games of the 2017 season and the first 10 games of the 2018 season. He would end up playing just 53 games in total for the Knicks, with the suspension and injuries being the cause. Noah would go on to play 47 games over the 2019 and 2020 seasons before stepping away for good at 34 years old.

13. Jeff Taylor – 24 Games

Jeff Taylor played just three seasons in the NBA, mostly due to a suspension that he never recovered from. Taylor played his college basketball at Vanderbilt University, where he was a 14.2 PPG and 5.6 RPG player over the course of his four years at the school. Taylor would then be the 31st overall pick of the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2012 NBA Draft. In his rookie season, Taylor would play 77 games and make 29 starts averaging 6.1 PPG and 1.9 RPG. In his sophomore season is when his troubles began.

In 2014, Taylor would find himself in deep trouble both with the NBA and with the law. Taylor would be arrested on domestic violence charges stemming from an incident with a woman at a hotel. Taylor would be charged and plead guilty to charges of misdemeanor domestic violence and malicious destruction of property. Taylor would be suspended 24 games suspension within the NBA and be sentenced to 18 months probation legally. After the 2014-15 season, Taylor left the NBA and went overseas to play with the Real Madrid team in Europe.

12. Jodie Meeks – 25 Games

Jodie Meeks was a 10-year veteran of the NBA who played from 2010 thru 2019 with the Bucks, Sixers, Pistons, Lakers, Magic, Wizards, and Raptors. He was a second-round pick of Milwaukee in the 2009 NBA Draft out of the University of Kentucky. Meeks would play just 41 games with the Bucks during his rookie season before being traded to the Sixers. In 2014 with the Lakers, Meeks would have his best season ever with 70 starts and 15.7 PPG on 46.3% shooting. It wouldn’t be much longer until he fell into trouble with the NBA.

In 2018, Meeks would be suspended for 25 games by the NBA after testing positive for banned substances ipamorelin and peptide-2. Meeks strongly denied all accusations and the test itself but to no avail. The league upheld their suspension, and Meeks served it despite repeated claims of innocence. Meeks would return to the NBA in 2018-19 to play eight games for the Raptors. Technically, Meeks is an NBA champion due to his short stay in Canada as the Raptors went on to capture the 2019 NBA title.

11. Wilson Chandler – 25 Games

In 2007, the New York Knicks made Wilson Chandler the 23rd overall pick in the NBA draft. Chandler would spend the next three and a half seasons with New York as a 15.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG starter before being shipped to Denver in the deal that sent Carmelo Anthony to New York. Chandler would spend the next seven seasons with the Nuggets as a 13.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG player over that time. After two stops in Philadelphia and Los Angeles with the Clippers, Chandler hit the free-agent market and signed with the Nets in July 2019.

Just one month after signing with Brooklyn, Chandler would fail a test for performance-enhancing drugs. It is unclear which substance Chandler tested positive for, but it was clearly one on the NBA’s banned list. Chandler would serve a 25-game suspension and end up playing just 35 games for Brooklyn that season. Chandler would retire from basketball at the age of 32 after 2019-20 and is remembered fondly despite this infraction at the very end of his career.

10. Didi Louzada – 25 Games

Didi Louzada had such a short career that the suspension we speak of was more games than he played in his professional career. As a rookie in 2020-21, Louzada played just three games with the New Orleans Pelicans and averaged just 2.7 PPG. that summer, Louzada found himself getting into some trouble with the league. That, coupled with the spot he was struggling to keep on the team, ended his career at an extremely early stage.

In the Summer of 2021, Louzada tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone and for drostanolone. Louzada was given a 25-game suspension as a result but would return to the court, albeit very briefly. He would play two games with New Orleans and seven games with the Trail Blazers in 2021-22 averaging 3.9 PPG overall. Louzada was not rostered for the 2022-23 season, and his positive drug test, along with limited production on the court, are the main reasons behind that.

9. John Collins – 25 Games

John Collins is one of the most athletic and promising young talents at the power forward position in the entire NBA. Collins’ journey began in 2017 when the Hawks made him the 19th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Collins would take a massive leap in his second season, averaging 19.5 PPG and 9.8 RPG. He would become a 21.0 PPG and 10.1 RPG player in 2020 for the Hawks, and things looked like they were really looking up for him in his career. At the beginning of 2019-20, Collins hit a roadblock in his career that he has since blown right by and through.

In November 2019, Collins tested positive for a banned substance known as pralmorelin. Collins would serve his 25-game suspension and has since carved out a decent career for himself in Atlanta despite constantly being involved in trade rumors. In 2021, he helped the Hawks reach the Eastern Conference Finals, and since the suspension, Collins has averaged 15.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.1 BPG. Collins seems to be in Atlanta’s future plans, but his numbers have taken a significant dive since before serving his 25-game suspension.

8. Deandre Ayton – 25 Games

Deandre Ayton was the first overall pick of the Phoenix Suns in the 2018 NBA Draft. Ayton was a star prospect out of Arizona and was immediately an asset to the plan Phoenix had for the future. Ayton would average 16.3 PPG and 10.9 RPG as a rookie with Phoenix, but the team could only muster up 19 wins on the season and missed the playoffs. In October 2019, things could have gone south and fast for Ayton, but they clearly have not.

Ayton would be banned for 25 games to begin the 2019-20 season as he tested positive for a banned diuretic. The ban would not slow Ayton down, though, as he went on to have a great season with 18.2 PPG and 11.5 RPG. In 2021, Ayton helped take the Suns to the NBA Finals, where they fell in six games to Milwaukee. Ayton has since established himself as a top-10 center in the game and has the Suns primed to make a run at an NBA championship in 

7. Kermit Washington – 26 Games

It is beyond a shame that Kermit Washington’s name will forever be associated with a momentary lapse in judgment, albeit a pretty brutal one. Washington was the fifth overall pick of the Lakers in 1973 out of American University. He was pretty average on both ends of the ball in his first four seasons with the Lakers, which makes the act he committed against Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977 just a bit more brutal in a way.

During a 1977 matchup between the Rockets and Lakers, a scuffle broke out near the halfcourt line. As Tomjanovich ran to break up the skirmish, he was blindsided with one of the most brutal non-contact sports punches ever thrown by Washington. The hit broke Tomjanovich’s nose and orbital bone and gave him a concussion to the point he was leaking spinal fluid into his mouth. Tomjanovich took years to fully recover, while Washington was penalized just 26 games. Washington would later become an All-Star and All-Defensive Team player with the Trail Blazers during the early 80s before retiring in 1982. He would play six games with the Warriors in 1988 but with much of nothing in the box score.

6. Stephen Jackson – 30 Games

Stephen Jackson’s name being on this list is a surprise to absolutely nobody. In the prime of his career, Jackson was one of the better guards/forwards in the entire game, which is odd considering he was never an All-Star. Jackson peaked as a 20.0 PPG scorer and a pesky defender who could swing momentum with big plays on either end of the court. One night in Detroit, as a member of the Indiana Pacers, his entire reputation was nearly eviscerated with one momentary lapse in judgment.

The Malice At The Palace is perhaps the biggest black eye in the history of basketball as far as fights go. The NBA had done tremendous work to fix its reputation as a league that promoted and encouraged violence. On this night, Jackson and his teammates took exception to the action of fans in Detroit towards their teammate, Ron Artest, and flew into the stands to participate in an all-out brawl. The NBA handed down some of its harshest punishments ever due to the infractions of Pacers and Pistons players, leveling Jackson with a 30-game ban. Jackson would go on to play 10 more seasons in the NBA, retiring in 2014 with the Clippers.

5. Javaris Crittenton – 38 Games

The downfall of Javaris Crittenton’s career came at the hands of a suspension leveled against him for an incident involving him and a teammate of all people. Crittenton barely had his feet wet as an NBA player when the infamous incident went down. The Lakers made him their 19th overall pick in 2007 but clearly saw something they didn’t like and traded him after just 22 games. After finishing 2007-08 with Memphis, Crittenton would play seven games for them in 2008-09 before being traded to the Wizards.

Just 56 games into his career with the Wizards, and when it seemed like he had found a home, things fell apart for Crittenton. In an issue over gambling debts, Crittenton allegedly threatened teammate Gilbert Arenas with a firearm. Although he never presented the gun in the threat to Arenas, Crittenton did keep an unlicensed firearm in his locker. As a result, Crittenton was suspended 38 games and sentenced by a court to probation and community service. Crittenton’s reputation was never restored, and he would never play another minute in the NBA.

4. Gilbert Arenas – 50 Games

In the fourth-biggest suspension in NBA history, the other side of the Wizards’ locker room takes center stage. Gilbert Arenas was a borderline superstar for a three-year stretch during the mid-2000s. He went to three straight All-Star Games from 2005 thru 2007 and three All-NBA Teams as well. Arenas was a man possessed when scoring the ball and someone who could be heavily relied on in the waning moments of a close game. In 29008-09, the star guard made one small mistake that would change everything in an instant.

During the same altercation with Javaris Crittenton we had already discussed, Arenas made an even bigger mistake. Arenas actually pulled out his unloaded weapon and threatened his teammate with it. Although unloaded, the gun was unlicensed as well, and the league did not take this lightly. The suspension was for the remainder of the season, which lasted 50 games due to Arenas already playing 32 games. Upon his return from the suspension, Arenas suffered multiple injuries that shortened his career drastically. Arenas would play just 87 games over his last two seasons before leaving the NBA to play in China.

3. Latrell Sprewell – 68 Games

During the early 90s, Latrell Sprewell was a budding superstar with the Golden State Warriors. After a great rookie season in 1993, Sprewell would be named an All-Star over the next two seasons in 1994 and 1995. He would be an All-Star once again in 1997 when he averaged 24.2 PPG and played 80 games for the Warriors that year. As they entered the 1997-98 season, Sprewell would be a large part of their plans to finally get back to the playoffs. It didn’t take long for those plans to fall apart.

Early in the 1997-98 season, Sprewell and the Warriors were going through regular practice as they always did on non-travel off days. Warriors coach PJ Carlesimo directed some criticism toward Sprewell that the young star did not take very well. Sprewell proceeded to choke, punch, and threaten his coach in an unprecedented incident. Originally, the Warriors stripped Sprewell of his entire $23.7 million contract and suspended him for a year. The NBA intervened and decided the punishment would only last through the end of that season which came to a total of 68 games. Sprewell would have one more All-Star season for the Knicks but would walk away from a lucrative contract and the game for good in 2005.

2. Ron Artest – 86 Games

Ron Artest has always been a little different than most NBA stars, but there was no denying how valuable he was to his team’s success. Artest was an All-Defensive Team member four times in his career and the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2003-04 season. Artest was on a career arch that would have put him among the greatest defenders in NBA history, but just seven games into the 2004-05 season for him, everything changed.

On this night, Artest was his regular chippy self, getting into it with Detroit Pistons big man Ben Wallace in a very physical and hot-tempered exchange under the basket. After things had settled down, Artest decided to lie down on the scorer’s table as referees discussed discipline amongst themselves. Well, everything exploded when Artest was hit with a beer thrown by a fan as he lay there. Artest immediately jumped up and unloaded punches on fans in the stands as he was already boiling hot from the fight with Wallace. As police and fans scrambled, Artest was uncontrollable and had to be pushed off the court by teammates and coaches. The brawl would result in an 86-game suspension for Artest and one of the biggest black eyes the NBA had ever seen on their sport.

1. O.J. Mayo – 164 Games

As the third overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, O.J Mayo had a world’s worth of expectations placed upon him coming out of USC. Mayo answered those expectations with a rookie season of 18.5 PPG and 1.1 SPG. Mayo would play four seasons total in Memphis, averaging 15.2 PPG over that time. He would also play one season in Dallas before moving on to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013. Mayo was still a touted prospect even as his numbers dropped a bit, considering his young age and clear skill level.

As the 2015-16 season came to a close, Mayo was coming off his worst year as a pro but was still just 28 years old at the time and was bound to get a chance somewhere in the league. On July 1st, 2016, the NBA announced that Mayo was set to serve a ban of two seasons after failing the league’s anti-drug program. Mayo had already been previously suspended for 10 games in 2011 for a positive performance-enhancing drug. Now, the details of why and how Mayo failed this time were never released by the NBA, but it was quite clear that the NBA wanted him gone for a long time. Unfortunately, the league got their wish, as even after he was eligible for reinstatement, Mayo never played again in the NBA.

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