Under Article 24 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Constitution, the NBA commissioner has the power to hand down disciplinary actions (either suspensions or fines less than $60,000) on players for on-court incidents, conduct that does not conform to standards of fair play, conduct that does not comply with federal or state laws, and conduct that is detrimental to the game of basketball or the league.[1] As defined by the 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and the NBA, any party (a player, a team, the NBA or the NBPA) can appeal to an arbitrator if a suspension is longer than 12 games or a fine is more than $50,000. If an appeal is filed, the arbitrator would have the power to either uphold or reject the decisions made by the commissioner.[2] If the incident is serious enough, such as point shaving or substance abuse, players can be permanently banned from playing, although players banned for substance abuse are permitted to be reinstated two years later under the anti-drug agreement between the league and the NBPA.[3]
In the league's early years, a handful of players were banned permanently because of their involvement with point shaving in college, although Connie Hawkins was able to overturn the ban through litigation. Several more were banned permanently for abusing banned substances and they usually never returned, though some players like Micheal Ray Richardson and Chris Andersen were able to return to play after their bans were repealed. Among those suspended, Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly known as Ron Artest at the time and then Metta World Peace later in his career) and Latrell Sprewell faced the most serious punishments for on-court altercations; they were suspended for 86 and 68 games, respectively. Gilbert Arenas was also suspended for more than half of a regular season's games for bringing firearms into an arena and drawing them in a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton, who also got suspended for the rest of that season himself. In more recent years, under Adam Silver's tenure as commissioner, other people involved with NBA teams beyond just the players have faced serious punishments for their actions themselves. Most notably, former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was permanently banned from the NBA for a leaked conversation condemning black people from coming to his games, primarily former Los Angeles Lakers player Magic Johnson. However, Golden State Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens, then-Phoenix Suns majority owner Robert Sarver, and then-Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka have also faced season-long suspensions for actions considered detrimental to the league. However, players are also eligible for long-term suspensions or permanent bannings in the event they do something egregious themselves under Silver's tenure, such as O. J. Mayo for substance abuse or Jontay Porter for gambling purposes.