Mo Taylor appealing ban, doesn't think it's right (Chron)

Rockets' Taylor gets second suspension
Ten-game penalty to be appealed
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES




Rockets forward Maurice Taylor was hit Friday with his second suspension in the past three seasons for violating the NBA/National Basketball Players Association Anti-Drug Program. But Taylor immediately appealed the ruling and disputed the findings, an NBA players association spokesman said Friday.

Taylor said he was not permitted to comment.

Taylor was with the team for its shoot-around prior to tonight's game against the Orlando Magic, but he could not be in the arena for the game, pending the outcome of an appeal.

"He told us he didn't think it was right but I'm supporting him 100 percent," guard Steve Francis said. "That's all we can do is support him and not look at the bad part of this situation."


National Basketball Players Association spokesman Dan Wasserman, when asked if Taylor was appealing the findings and 10-game suspension, said: "Oh absolutely. It's been filed. It's in the process of being filed immediately."

An appeal of any kind, and especially one filed so quickly, is rare in such cases but will not allow Taylor to play while waiting for a hearing. The suspension begins with tonight's game against the Orlando Magic at Toyota Center.

The NBA collective bargaining agreement allows the union to expedite no more than two suspension appeals per season. But even an expedited appeal would not be heard for 10 days, rather than the customary 30 days, keeping Taylor out for at least six games even if he wins his appeal.

"The authority for this discipline does not exist in the collective bargaining agreement," Wasserman said. "We think it's a completely improper application of the drug program. We've asked for an expedited appeal to allow for an arbitrator to conduct a hearing as quickly as is possible."

Asked what part of the ruling the players association considered "improper," Wasserman cited the ruling that Taylor was in "non-compliance" and that Taylor was given a 10-game suspension.

"We don't discuss any part of our anti-drug program publicly," NBA vice president of basketball communications Tim Frank said.

A typical suspension would be five games, and a repeat offense does not automatically merit a suspension twice as long. Test results and suspensions are determined by an independent medical director hired by the union and the league.

The league's anti-drug policy states "a veteran player's failure to comply with his inpatient or aftercare treatment while in the program will result in substantial fines and suspensions, which will be imposed until that player fully complies with the requirements of the program."

Taylor, 27, said he could not comment about whether he was ruled to have failed a league drug test, what substance he is accused of using or if he was in violation of another part of the league's substance-abuse program.

Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson and Wasserman said they were not given that information.

But there was speculation Taylor's appeal could maintain that a medicine he took while rehabilitating his dislocated left shoulder last month triggered the positive test results. The program bans: amphetamine and its "analogs;" cocaine; LSD; opiates (heroin, codeine and morphine); PCP; mar1juana; and steroids.

Taylor's 10-game suspension could increase if he loses his appeal and fails to comply with the league and players association treatment program. Those steps are not made public.

Taylor had previously been suspended for the first five games of last season for a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy in 2001-02 when he was out with a ruptured left Achilles' tendon. His suspension indicated it was his third violation of the anti-drug program.

Dawson informed Taylor of the league's ruling but is not given information about how Taylor violated league policy. A suspension can be given out for failing a drug test, failing to take a scheduled test or other violations of aftercare programs.

Taylor, the Rockets' second-highest paid player, signed a six-year, $48.75 million contract before the 2001-2002 season. He missed that entire season because of the Achilles' injury. Overweight and still battling that injury, he averaged a career-low 8.4 points per game last season. He is averaging 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds, but was coming off his best game since coming back from the shoulder injury, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds against the Nets.

The suspension, if upheld, will cost him $86,666 for each game he misses.

When Taylor was found in violation of the league's substance policy in 2001, he insisted on holding a news conference to announce the suspension and said that he had "experimented with mar1juana." Though he was not obligated to provide details to the media or the Rockets, he told team officials he wanted to admit he had failed a drug test.

Losing Taylor on the heels of the indefinite suspension given Eddie Griffin could be devastating. Without Taylor, the Rockets' top scorers off the bench are Moochie Norris and Bostjan Nachbar, each averaging 4.3 points per game.

With Griffin out since Oct. 16, center Kelvin Cato has started at power forward. Rookie Torraye Braggs and Scott Padgett are the only power forwards on the active roster.

The Rockets are permitted to place Taylor on a suspended list and replace him on the active roster. Dawson said he has not discussed a move with Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.

"It's tough," Dawson said. "It's very upsetting. You get a lot of anticipation going into this year, this building, new everything. Things are going well. Looking at it from a coach's perspective, anything that disrupts you when things are going well is not looked upon very well.

"Those are two pretty good players we don't have right now. Things are rolling along pretty well. I could see progress on a lot of levels."

 

Make what you want out of it. It's interesting that players rarely appeal against these decisions, and something interesting to know is that whether he wins or not, he'll be out AT LEAST 6 games.

 

Point being, who believes him?

It's nice to see Francis standing by him, to me that means Mo is telling the truth because, although he stood by Griffin, he didn't say that Griffin was innocent.