Pheonix Suns center Deandre Ayton has been suspended for 25 games by the NBA for testing positive for a banned diuretic, the league announced Thursday night.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news before the NBA confirmed it. Ayton will serve the first game of the suspension by sitting out of Friday’s game at Denver.
Ayton called the failed drug test “an unintentional mistake,” in a statement he provided ESPN as the news broke. The NBPA plans to appeal the suspension on the 21-year-old’s behalf under the collective bargaining provision that accounts for the “unintentional ingestion” of a substance.
According to Wojnarowski, a follow-up test did not test positive for the substance, showing no trace of a violation.
The NBA’s full statement simply lays out the facts but does not provide information about the specific failed test.
“Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns has been suspended without pay for twenty-five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for a diuretic,” an NBA statement reads. “Ayton’s suspension will begin with tomorrow’s game between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets.”
