Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Toronto Raptors guard Jalen Harris has been “dismissed and disqualified” from the NBA as a result of violating the terms of the league’s anti-drug program.
As noted by Blake Murphy from The Athletic, the NBA has a long list of prohibited drugs; marijuana is not amongst the substances on that list. This also does not necessarily mean that Harris will never be able to play in the NBA again. The first year guard is eligible for reinstatement after one year out of the league, and the Raptors will have an opportunity to bring Harris back to the team once his one year ban is up. His contract is rendered null.
The young guard had recently shared a picture on his Instagram story, showing what appeared to be a cast of some sort around his ankle. We are unsure whether this is the same injury he suffered at the end of the season and whether the recent drug violation had anything to do with the suspected injury.
It should be noted that Harris was dismissed for using a “drug of abuse” meaning that the infraction is not related to performance enhancing drugs.
As per the league’s policy, Harris will be entered into stage one of their substance abuse program.
Harris is the fourth player to be hit with a ban. Tyreke Evans (2019) will be able to apply for reinstatement for the upcoming season, OJ Mayo (2016) has yet to be reinstated, and Chris Andersen (2006) was reinstated after two years away from the league.
The three players before Harris received two year bans, however because Harris is a first-year player, he receives a one-year ban.
Jalen Harris played 13 games for the Toronto Raptors this season averaging 7.4 points for the team. He averaged 17.6 ppg in the G-League with the Raptors 905.
