This afternoon, the NBA announced that Pacers guard and former rookie of the year Tyreke Evans has been “dismissed and disqualified from the league for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.” The league said he will be eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.
No more information about Evans’s dismissal was publicly disclosed. Evans has never been previously suspended from the league for any drug-related offenses, so his punishment only fits with the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement if he tested positive for what the league defines as “drug of abuse.” per the CBA, “If a player tests positive for a Drug of Abuse during Random Testing or Reasonable Cause Testing, he will be dismissed and disqualified from the NBA.” The league’s list of Drugs of Abuse is as follows: “amphetamine and its analogs, benzodiazepines, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, LSD, opiates, and PCP.”
Evans spent last season with the Pacers, and he was going to be a free agent this summer. Indiana released a short statement: