Bye, Bye Birdman

[timvp]

NEW YORK --New Orleans Hornets forward Chris Andersen has been thrown out of the NBA for drug use.

Officially, the NBA announced Friday that Andersen has been dismissed and disqualified from the league for violating the terms of the Anti-Drug Program, which were agreed to by the league and the Players Association.

The league, teams and the union cannot publicly discuss or disclose information regarding testing or treatment of any player other than to announce a player's suspension or dismissal.

Andersen cannot apply for reinstatement for at least two years.

Under terms of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, any player testing positive for drugs of abuse (amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, opiates -- including heroin, codeine and morphine -- and PCP) can be disqualified from the NBA.

Players who test positive for steroids or performance enhancing drugs, masking agents and diurectics get a 10-game suspension (1st offense), a 25-game suspension (2nd offense), a one-year suspension (3rd offense) and disqualification (4th offense).

Marijuana penalties are a $25,000 fine (2nd offense), a five-game suspension (3rd offense), a 10-game suspension (4th offense), and five additional games for each subsequent violation.


http://www.nba.com/media/hornets/birdman-150.jpg

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2308918

[Kori Ellis]

Holy Cow!

I'm guessing he was in this group then:


Under terms of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, any player testing positive for drugs of abuse (amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, opiates -- including heroin, codeine and morphine -- and PCP) can be disqualified from the NBA.

because you don't get kicked out for pot.

What a loser!

[angel_luv]

Is he the one that looks like a cave man? hmm I guess not.

But seriously, what a waste! How stupid.

[Kobayagi]

Wow, what a moron. I guess it's time to go to Europe for Chris to earn his millions.

[z0sa]

And they were just talking about all the kids who wanted his autograph and the bird sign and all that.

[timvp]

Damn, the guy was fun to watch.

That is a pretty harsh punishment. I wonder if it's his first offense.

[ALVAREZ6]

stupid mofo.


He looked like he was on somethin...

[Leetonidas]

Well, sucks for him.

[Trainwreck2100]

Was he the crappy guy at the dunk contest last year, if so then this is what he gets for making me lose 5 minutes of my life for him trying to do the same dunk 10 times

[Kori Ellis]

Was he the crappy guy at the dunk contest last year, if so then this is what he gets for making me lose 5 minutes of my life for him trying to do the same dunk 10 times

:lmao

Yes, that's him.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

What a fucking idiot.

[Das Texan]

what a fucking stupid idiot.

why the hell would you use the hard shit when you are an NBA player?


do the hornets get charged his cap number still btw?

[Trainwreck2100]

why the hell would you use the hard shit when you are an NBA player?




with a name like birdman he knows what it takes to get high

[xcoriate]

who uses hard drugs anyway, pretty stupid.

as far as i know thats his first offence for any drug issues right?

I wonder what he tested positive to.

[boutons_]

what was his contract situation?
how much $$$ did he lose?

[Kori Ellis]

as far as i know thats his first offence for any drug issues right?

They don't announce it when a player has an offense. So he could have had prior offenses and be in their drug program and the public wouldn't know.

[Kori Ellis]

what was his contract situation?
how much $$$ did he lose?

According to hoopshype (which is relatively accurate for salary info) he makes 3.5M this year and for three more years after this one. (No raises)

[xcoriate]

Kori, do you know if that stays on there cap?

What about when/if he comes back from suspension do the Hornets still have his "rights"?

I'm sure there'll be an appeal, in which the details will come to light. Way to mess up a good thing though.

[Buddy Holly]

The NBA is just racist. David Stern hates white people... who act thuggish and make an ass-face out of themselves at the AS dunk contest.

Racist cracka's.

[spursupporter]

oh man...i was hoping i could see him in this year Dunk Competition......i need a good laugh seeing him dunking

[Trainwreck2100]

The NBA is just racist. David Stern hates white people... who act thuggish and makes an ass-face out of themselves at the AS dunk contest.

Racist cracka's.


The irony is the use of the hard stuff makes him more thug than a mojority of the black players.

[BrianBird]

Thats a shame cause he really seemed like a nice guy. I played a a number of 2 on 2 games with him at the Sam Houston State rec center while he was up visiting an old friend. I asked him a ton of questions about the NBA and him in general and he was very open and never acted annoyed. Seemed like a pretty straight laced guy too, wouldnt have suspected anything other than weed (which he did strike me as someone who enjoys the sticky icky). Only thing i could guess is coke.

[Buddy Holly]

Thats a shame cause he really seemed like a nice guy. I played a a number of 2 on 2 games with him at the Sam Houston State rec center while he was up visiting an old friend. I asked him a ton of questions about the NBA and him in general and he was very open and never acted annoyed. Seemed like a pretty straight laced guy too, wouldnt have suspected anything other than weed (which he did strike me as someone who enjoys the sticky icky). Only thing i could guess is coke.

Taking drugs doesn't make him a "bad" person, just stupid.

[Kori Ellis]

Kori, do you know if that stays on there cap?

What about when/if he comes back from suspension do the Hornets still have his "rights"?

I'm sure there'll be an appeal, in which the details will come to light. Way to mess up a good thing though.

I honestly don't know how it works. I'm sure it's outlined in the drug policy section of the CBA but I haven't read it all. ChumpDumper might know.

[King]

why the hell would you use the hard shit when you are an NBA player?


Because you're addicted.

[BrianBird]

Taking drugs doesn't make him a "bad" person, just stupid.

True, theres nothing wrong about relaxing after a hard days work to a bowl or two. Getting caught is whats stupid.

[Das Texan]

They don't announce it when a player has an offense. So he could have had prior offenses and be in their drug program and the public wouldn't know.


true, but according to the policy for most things you get suspended for various games before getting thrown out.

[ShoogarBear]

.. You saw this thread and wondered what you did to get banned?

[Kori Ellis]

true, but according to the policy for most things you get suspended for various games before getting thrown out.

Well in the CBA it says, you can have offenses and the only punishment is that you go in the drug program -- so you don't necessarily miss games.

[Trainwreck2100]

You saw this thread and wondered what you did to get banned?


I know you had swomething better than that in you.

[ALVAREZ6]

http://www.on-hoops.com/images/andersen_chris-051005.jpg
hmmm....

I would have never guessed...birdman did coke????


































:lol

[MI21]

Unfortunate.

I liked watching him play and you think someone who came up from nowhere would appreciate where he is enough not to throw it all away for some thrills.

[Das Texan]

I thought everything but the hard stuff had suspensions as some of the punishment prior to booting from the league....

Then again I'm also no expert on the CBA.

[Kori Ellis]

I thought everything but the hard stuff had suspensions as some of the punishment prior to booting from the league....

Then again I'm also no expert on the CBA.

Well the first two violations of marijuana have no suspensions. So he could have had those in the past and then had this one for coke (or whatever) now.

[Das Texan]

Well the first two violations of marijuana have no suspensions. So he could have had those in the past and then had this one for coke (or whatever) now.


true, bottom line is that this isnt just for good ole marijuana, that would be a *yawn* effect....its some hard shit he got busted for, which is just fucking insanely stupid.

[Marklar MM]

Man. The Birdman looked so damn cool with his hair all spiked at the All-Star game. It was like he was saying, "I am going to win this dunky contest, dunky dunky." He then proceeded to flop and get himself eliminated in the first round. Damn you Birdman...Damn you.

[T-Pain]

what a fag

[Peter]

Under terms of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, any player testing positive for drugs of abuse (amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, opiates -- including heroin, codeine and morphine -- and PCP) can be disqualified from the NBA.

So a player can get thrown out for the white man's drug but the black man's is A OK?

[CharlieMac]

That's so ridiculous. I'm guessing the NBA just happened to overlook the many other players that have abused drugs in the NBA. Play it safe and punish the trailer trash looking dude I guess.

[Brutalis]

What an idiot.

Sometimes I wonder how some guys stay up and do this NBA lifestyle.

And there's some answer as to how they do it. If you know what I mean.

Whatever happend to just sleeping instead?

[leemajors]

MO MONEY MO PROBLEMS
what the fuck is the black man's drug that is ok peter? i assume you are talking about marijuana, and there is no way i would call that drug specific to a race. millions of white college students would beg to differ.

[Trainwreck2100]

MO MONEY MO PROBLEMS
what the fuck is the black man's drug that is ok peter? i assume you are talking about marijuana, and there is no way i would call that drug specific to a race. millions of white college students would beg to differ.

Actually the drug he was refering to was a different drug, the scientific name is Femus Whitus. Tis is an addicting drug so addicting that when you want it and it doesn't want you, you take it anyway. It will mess up your life so much you got to break records so people forget about it.

[polandprzem]

Good for him :smokin

[WalterBenitez]

SO, that means this time isn't his first offense??


Wow, what a moron. I guess it's time to go to Europe for Chris to earn his millions.

FIBA won't allow him to play (not sure but I heard sth like that)

[Ginofan]

Wow. Just wow.

I've always enjoyed watching Chris Anderson play, he lived up to his nick name, with the way he could get up. I'm sure he's not the only player in the leauge to use such drugs (be it coke, heroin, etc.) but it seems he's just the first to get caught. I wonder why they didn't have this type of drug policy back in the day...wasn't the Iceman a pretty hard core drug user?

This situation is a real shame, hopefully Chris can clean up his act and come back in a couple of years.

[sa_butta]

What an idiot. Too bad for him I guess all the money and shit got to him. I wonder if he has been a drug user for a long time or if it came about when he came into the league?

[ALVAREZ6]

What an idiot. Too bad for him I guess all the money and shit got to him. I wonder if he has been a drug user for a long time or if it came about when he came into the league?
I bet he's been doin drugs since he was in HS.

[sa_butta]

I bet he's been doin drugs since he was in HS.You think he has been doin coke since HS or just smokin weed? I think he might have been a weed smoker then moved to heavy shit when he started makin money in the NBA. He could afford a more expensive habit.

[mattyc]

Ouch, fucked up his chance.

[angel_luv]

This situation is a real shame, hopefully Chris can clean up his act and come back in a couple of years.

Would they let him come back? It is hard enough to get into the NBA the first time- and that is with doing everything right.

[Despot]

Let me have my chance to stereotype him, I'm guessing he's an LSD and shroom guy.

The funny thing is that when I was watching the game the other night, they showed a closeup of him and I instantly thought steroids. I know steroids are not very advantageous for basketball, and I'm not saying he was using them, but his neck and face was swole, much different from last year. A family friend was ill a while back, and had that same unnatural swollen look, which was caused by receiving steroid injections as treatment, so that's the only reason I thought that.

[Kobayagi]

This is from the Hornets website:




Statement Regarding Chris Andersen


All aspects of the NBA’s Anti-Drug Program are kept confidential as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, we can say that we were obviously disappointed and saddened to hear that Chris has been dismissed from the league. On behalf of his teammates, coaches and the entire organization, we wish him well and hope he learns from this experience.

- Hornets Owner George Shinn

[ChumpDumper]

I'll have to check, but I'm pretty sure his contract is now void and doesn't count against the cap for the Hornets.

Pretty shitty year for Andersen. First he gets fat over the summer on the Hedough Turkoglu diet, loses his house and Hummer when Katrina hit, now this.

Getting pretty late in the season for Europe, but someone may pick him up. Might be a better idea for him to just get his shit together first and start again next fall.

http://www.ezthemes.com/previews/h/harvbird.jpg

[ChumpDumper]

Looks liike the steroid angle is a possiblity, but he'd have to test positive four times to be kicked out. I don't even think Birdman is capable of that kind of uberstupidity.

[TheTruth]

Would they let him come back? It is hard enough to get into the NBA the first time- and that is with doing everything right.

I thought there was some type of petition he could do in 2 years to try to get back in? Or maybe I read that wrong

[Kori Ellis]

I thought there was some type of petition he could do in 2 years to try to get back in? Or maybe I read that wrong

You are right.

[ChumpDumper]

I guess if it was steroids he would've been suspended for previous violaitons. Must've been some of the hard stuff.

[Despot]

I thought there was some type of petition he could do in 2 years to try to get back in? Or maybe I read that wrong

I think she's questioning the fact that any team would want him. I don't think that this is something big enough for teams to shy away from him if he is ever reinstated. I'm probably wrong, but I would think that there is some kind of provision that if he plans to come back, he will have drug tests at random during the time he's out, and that would ease teams minds.

I question whether he can stop playing for a couple of years, and return healthy, fit, and able to compete at the same level, or even close to what he was before.

[Horry For 3!]

I have him on my Dynasty Team. I will have to put him on I :depressed

[Obstructed_View]

Holy Cow!

I'm guessing he was in this group then:



because you don't get kicked out for pot.

What a loser!
Actually, I think it falls under "performance enhancing" and "other". After watching the game tapes, they deduced that whatever he's taking must not be performance enhancing.

[Despot]

I guess if it was steroids he would've been suspended for previous violaitons. Must've been some of the hard stuff.

I have alot of questions about this story.
I'm not arguing he was doing 'roids, I'm pretty sure it was Cocaine or LSD, but I am not clear on something. I doubt that the use of steroids is 0% in the NBA, but have we ever heard of anyone getting suspended for a dirty steroid test? Usually it is weed, but even at that, most of the time suspensions don't stem from dirty tests, they get busted with it in their personal lives, and get suspended when convicted. Were roid tests part of the old CBA? If so, was there a suspension for it? Was it just testing for a couple of types?

Also, how many years has birdman been in the league, this is his second year, right? He has not had to much time to fail multiple tests. So, it's either the hard stuff, or he's a fiend. He has also been an upstanding citizen and player hasn't he? Since the "NBA Cares" so much, did they try to help him out, give him chances already, and when he was caught again did they get so fed up with him, they let him loose? There is more to this. Maybe he was getting sloppy and making it obvious.

I don't really keep informed on this kind of stuff, because normally if it does not involve the spurs, I really don't care.

[ChumpDumper]

Last guy I remembered getting the boot for roids is Soumaila Samake in 02-03.

[Old School Chic]

:nope Say no to drugs!


He should of known better...

[Kori Ellis]

This explains some questions regarding the contract, etc.

Chris Sheridan
ESPN Insider


By the time Chris Andersen is eligible to return to the NBA, his arms should be as colorful as those alternate road uniforms he used to wear for the Hornets.

There's a fascinating human interest story behind the first player banned from the league for a major drug policy violation since Stanley Roberts in 1999.

Andersen is the son of a second-generation Motor Maid, a woman who grew up on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. His mother, Linda, could probably tell you where Sturgis is before she could tell you who Stockton was. She brought young Chris along when she went for her first orchid tattoo, later adding hummingbirds and butterflies, and Andersen returned the favor the first time he had ink injected under his skin.

But Andersen spent 3½ of his formative years without his mother. His father, an artist, put him and his sister, Tamie, into a group home when he was 11. It was either that or a military school, because dad was heading off to New York to try to sell his paintings.

Linda regained custody after initially being unable to find them and brought them back to rural east Texas, where she would pick 14-year-old Chris up from school on her chopper. Andersen's mom took her Harleys seriously, mind you, because it ran in the family. She says her mother (Andersen's grandmother) was riding the back of a Harley when pregnant with her.

Andersen eventually became one of 34 members of the Class of '97 at Iola High School, and after a year and a half of community college, he ditched his letter of commitment to Clyde Drexler's University of Houston Cougars and decided to go for the money by playing professionally in China, where he faced Yao Ming before hardly anyone in America had heard of him.

Andersen eventually played minor league ball in North Dakota and New Mexico before the Nuggets saw him in a summer league tryout. Known as "The Birdman," he was a hit with the free-spirited home fans in Denver and later New Orleans and Oklahoma City, and gained some national fame (or shame), by missing his first seven attempts at the dunk contest in Denver last year. (A year earlier, he spiked his hair for the dunk contest in L.A.)

Andersen apparently failed a drug test last week, testing positive for one of the so-called "drugs of abuse" (including heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, LSD and PCP) that bring an automatic two-year banishment.

No one has said exactly which substance Andersen tested positive for, but the players' union has filed a grievance on his behalf. Citing strict confidentiality rules that have cost high-ranking people their jobs when breached in the past, the union has not even disclosed the grounds for Andersen's appeal.

Under league rules, the four-year, $14 million contract Andersen signed over the summer is now null and void. If his dismissal is upheld and he misses two seasons, the Hornets will have first dibs on Andersen should he be reinstated. If they were to want to bring him back, they'd have to tender him a contract at his old salary of $3.5 million.

Not to be trite, but it really is a shame that Andersen just threw away more than $12 million. He seemed like a good guy every time I spoke to him. We once discussed the specifics of his tattoos, how one arm was tattooed with the Chinese symbols for good, the other with the symbols for bad. He also had the outlines of a few new tattoos on his arms and shoulders, explaining that it was an ongoing process to have all of the colors filled in. He expected it to take years, but I guess he'll have the extra time for it now.

[ChumpDumper]

Free-spirits of Oklahoma City?

[T Park]

You want to feel bad for him.

But he made an absolutely stupid choice.


What a total idiot. I have no sympathy for him what so ever.

[NZHayden]

wow he messed up

[timvp]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was cocaine.

"Birdman" = Street talk for one in the business of selling da 8 balls
8 Ball = 3.5 grams of cocaine
Cocaine = 2 year suspension
Chris Andersen = Birdman

[Ginofan]

Do they varify these UA tests? I know at my clinic when we do random UAs every month there's always a few that have to be retested because the lab screws up or results come back all screwy.

[Rydia]

Was he the crappy guy at the dunk contest last year, if so then this is what he gets for making me lose 5 minutes of my life for him trying to do the same dunk 10 times
That is EXACTLY what I thought!! We should have known back then!!! hahaha :lol

[nkdlunch]

Wonder what he's gonna do with all this new freetime??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/775000/images/_779487_spoon_needle.jpg

[himat]

i not even a fan of this guy so i really don't care, but if one of my favorite players was only good because of steroids, then i would lose all respect for them. what an idiot.

[ShoogarBear]

Do they varify these UA tests? I know at my clinic when we do random UAs every month there's always a few that have to be retested because the lab screws up or results come back all screwy.

They better, unless they want to face a major lawsuit.