Minnesota Timberwolves goalkeeper Malik Beasley has been suspended for 12 games without charge after pleading guilty to a serious threat of violence following an incident in September last year, the NBA announced Thursday night.
“As an organization, we fully support today’s NBA decision,” said Timberwolves, president of basketball operations. Gersson Roses, in a statement issued shortly after the suspension was announced. “As we work with Malik to advance his development as a player and as a person, we look forward to seeing him grow.”
Beasley’s suspension will begin on Saturday, when the Timberwolves are in Washington to play with the Washington Wizards. He will be eligible to return to the court on March 27, when the Minnesota hosts the Houston Rockets.
Beasley agreed to a lawsuit with prosecutors earlier this month, in which drug charges against him were dropped in exchange for a guilty complaint. As a result, Beasley was sentenced to 120 days in prison, which could be served in the county asylum or home jail after the end of the NBA season in mid-May.
“We are very pleased with this result that will allow Malik to continue working to become a better person and make better decisions,” Beasley’s lawyer, Steven Haney, said in a statement obtained by Mark Schlabach. from ESPN after the statement was agreed. .
In a statement obtained by Schlabach in September last year, the Plymouth Police Department said officers had been called to Beasley’s residence for a gun offense. The informants told the officers that they stopped their car in front of the house, and a “suspect approached the vehicle, hit the window, aimed his weapon at them and advised them to leave the property”.
“While the victims were walking away, the suspect was seen holding the gun on his shoulder, pointing it at his vehicle,” the police statement said.
Agents set a perimeter to locate the individual and detected a strong smell of marijuana, according to the statement. A vehicle tried to leave the property and was stopped by police. The three people in the car were arrested and later released. A man, who identified himself as the owner of the house, was shouting at the officers outside.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the property and located narcotics and numerous weapons, one of which was confirmed stolen, police said.
Beasley traded in Minnesota in February last year and signed a four-year, $ 60 million contract with the Timberwolves in the offseason. He was one of the few bright points of a terrible season for Minnesota, averaging 20.5 points per game and 40% three points away.
The Timberwolves are 7-26, the worst in the league and have lost six games in a row, as well as 10 of their last 11 games. They haven’t won two games in a row since the first two of the season. The team fired the coach Ryan Saunders after the Sunday night loss to the New York Knicks and signed Chris Finch, who worked for the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach, as a permanent replacement for Saunders the next day.