Former Lakers Forward DQ'd from CBA Playoffs Amid Betting Scandal
Two Chinese Basketball Association teams featuring some seasoned NBA vets have been removed from the CBA playoffs after it was discovered that they were involved in apparently fixing contests.
Mark Dreyer of China Sports Insider reports that both the Shanghai Sharks, featuring former NBA pros Eric Bledsoe, recent Los Angeles Lakers power forward Michael Beasley, Jamaal Franklin, Johnny O'Bryant, and the Chinese Basketball Association, and the Jiangsu Dragons, who are currently rostering ex-NBA player Antonio Blakeney, have been banned from this year's postseason, with more extended penalties dolled out to some of the key leaders of each franchise.
Shanghai head coach Li Chunjiang and Jiangsu general manager Shi Linjie were both assessed five-year bans from the CBA, while Shanghai GM Jiang Yusheng and Jiangsu head coach Li Nan have both been banned for three seasons. Dreyer applauds the president of the CBA, former Hall of Fame Houston Rockets center (and occasional Lakers postseason irritant) Yao Ming, for moving swiftly with these punishments. Both clubs were also fined $775,049 apiece.
It seems Beasley will be free to continue playing next season without any parameters, should he opt to remain with the Sharks.
The 6'9" vet, still just 34, spent his 11th and presumably final NBA season with the Lakers during LeBron James' first year in LA, 2018-19. Across his 26 healthy games, Beasley averaged 7.0 points on 49% field goal shooting, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists. He was selected with the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft out of Kansas State, between Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo. The draft's two actual best players, UCLA teammates Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, rounded out that year's top five.
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