Roy Tarpley was a talented player who the Dallas Mavericks felt could take them
to a league championship. But the 7-foot forward "had become a distraction."Tarpley, 26, who spent most of his five NBA seasons battling drug and alcohol problems, was suspended for life by the league on Wednesday after he refused to take a urine test.
Tarpley, who was to make $3 million this year, forfeits his contract under the anti-drug agreement between the league and the NBA Players Association. He had a three-year, guaranteed contract with Dallas that was to have paid him $8.45 million.
He can reapply for readmission to the league in two years.
"This was probably good for Roy and good for the team," said Rick Sund, Mavericks vice president for basketball operations.
"We would have loved to have Roy, but he became a distraction. It reached the point where if he wasn't going to follow the prescribed treatment, then he needed the third strike. It would have been a trying situation with him on the Mavericks this year," Sund said.
Fans had bombarded sports call-in shows in recent days calling for the Mavericks to get rid of Tarpley, who failed to show up at a practice on Sunday, then made only a brief appearance at a Monday morning practice before leaving abruptly without talking to teammates or coaches.
"It's stupid," Mavericks owner Donald Carter said. "It's stupid that somebody who has that kind of talent would let this happen. ... Maybe his problem is that with drugs, you can't administer logic."
Gary Bettman, counsel for the NBA, said Tarpley refused "repeated attempts" by the league to get him to take a drug test - required under the league's anti-drug policy once he missed his second practice.
"His refusal to take the test speaks for itself," Bettman said. "He knew it was strike three."
Tarpley was informed of the ban in Houston at the John Lucas drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, where he is an outpatient and where he had gone on Tuesday to meet with counselors. He had no immediate comment.
Tarpley became the seventh player to be banned by the NBA for life under the league's anti-drug agreement, but the first permanently dismissed for refusing take a drug test.
The other players suspended for failing drug tests were John Drew, Lewis Lloyd, Michael Ray Richardson, Duane Washington, Chris Washburn and Mitchell Wiggins.