The Plot Thickens: Michael Beasley Fined $50,000 by the NBA for Rookie Camp Incident

There had been rumblings over the internet for about the past month that Michael Beasley was involved in the incident at the NBA Rookie Transition Program. He was originally listed in a report by ESPN, but that report was later edited to remove the section involving Beasley, the #2 pick in the draft who just happens to be working with ESPN on a series of features on his life as a rookie. The rumors persisted, but nothing solid ever came out. Then last week a photo made it's way around the internet that showed Beasley with Mario Chalmers, with Chalmers holding something that looked very much like a marijuana cigarette, though the origins of the photo remain unknown.

The league today announced that they had fined Beasley $50,000, more than twice the amount they fined Chalmers and Darrell Arthur, for his involvement at the NBA Rookie Transition program, as well as for interfering with the NBA's investigation.

This has several effects. First off, it furthers an increasingly popular viewpoint that Beasley is relatively unstable when it comes to character issues. While he seems likable, harmless, and fun, he's also known to be fiercely independent and flippant towards strict rules. This definitely fits in line with that. Second, it calls into question just who was responsible for the efforts to control the story. If it was Beasley's people, this is not the kind of thing that Pat Riley is known to take lightly. That's going to be an uncomfortable situation. It also calls into question the original ESPN report, and whether or not ESPN was involved in an effort to keep Beasley's name out of the story.

Either way, that's a lot of scratch, and we still don't know to what degree Beasley was involved in the incident that involved marijuana, the use of which both Chalmers and Arthur have both denied.

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