Despite their responsibilities to the team and on the court, NBA players carry big responsibilities off the court as well, and that is to represent themselves in a good eye to the public. Some of them didn’t make the right decisions and their costly mistakes ruined their careers. Unfortunately, there are many cases like this but we will focus on five of them.

The first case comes from Myers Leonard who last played for the Miami Heat. In March 2021, the Heat announced that they would be suspending Leonard indefinitely due to his use of anti-Semitic slur while he was streaming video games on Twitch. Leonard did release a statement on his Instagram profile apologizing but he was still suspended from practicing or playing for the team and received a $50.000 fine. The Heat managed to trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder who eventually released him and he hasn’t played in the league ever since.

Another player who ended up even worse is Javaris Crittenton. The 6’5’’ guard was a member of the Washington Wizards when the famous gun incident occurred involving him and Gilbert Arenas. Crittenton reportedly pulled a gun on his teammate due to an unpaid gambling debt. Both players were suspended for the remainder of the season but Crittenton is the one who never came back to the league. To make things even worse, in 2015 he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm. He was charged with the murder of a 22-year-old mother of four and was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

This incident was a downfall for Arenas’ career as well. After becoming a regular All-Star he was traded to the Orlando Magic and was never the same player again. Even though he will also be remembered for this incident, he is a free man enjoying his retirement and occasionally appears in NBA podcast shows.

Another All-Star who seemingly lost it all is Andrew Bynum. Bynum became the youngest player to ever appear in an NBA game when he debuted for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005. When the Lakers drafted Bynum, they were coming off their first season after Shaquille O’Neal left the team and essentially gave the control of the team to Kobe Bryant. Bynum stepped up in Shaq’s shows but Kobe wasn’t impressed with his work ethic. The young center, despite numerous injuries, developed into one of the best centers in the league but his career didn’t last long. The Lakers decided to trade him to the Philadephia 76ers and that was the beginning of the end for Bynum. His lack of determination and respect for the game cost him a couple of suspensions and he was eventually out of the league by the age of 26

The next one on the list is Tyreke Evans. He spent the majority of his career with the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans and was one of the best young combo guards in the league. Unfortunately for him, in 2019 while he was the sixth man for the Indiana Pacers he was banned from the league for two years after violating the league’s anti-drug program. He decided not to play overseas and prepare for an NBA return but that still hasn’t happened and seems very unlikely.

Just like Evans, O.J. Mayo ended up banned from the league for the same reasons. One of the best young guards at the time, who was personally invited to practice with Kobe Bryant prior to the 2008 NBA draft, was suspended for two years in 2015. While suspended from the NBA, Mayo took his talents to China but the level of his game and the ruined reputation will probably keep him away from the NBA for good.