Report: Beasley's Rehab Stay Planned Weeks in Advance

So after everyone including us freaked out when it broke that Michael Beasley was in rehab following this weekend's Twitter debacle, it turns out that there may not be a man behind the mirror after all. But things might be a little more complicated. Because really, what this story needs more of is confusion and speculation.

According to the Miami Herald, Beasley's rehab session has nothing to do with anything recent and instead has been planned for a while in advance.

The questions about why he's in rehab, then, are going to further more speculation. Fun. Only not. At all.

---

---

The Herald report says that Beasley's stay in Houston "had been scheduled for weeks and is connected to a violation the Miami Heat forward committed during last summer's NBA rookie transition program." Which is good news for Beasley. It means that this isn't indicative of some sort of breakdown or a severe incident. It's linked to the silly party at the rookie symposium last year. It also means that he's been regularly tested for two weeks as his father had indicated, so IF it was something illegal in the Twitpic bags, it likely wasn't Beasley's.

Which means that the media, including us, have been freaking out over something that may not be indicative of a clinical depression, a need for further scholastic endeavors, or anything outside of a league mandate. "Ha, ha! What jolly fun! I guess we'll all return to our fantasy football draft boards now!"

Oh, bugger.

The Herald report goes on to say that after the symposium events, the league started routinely drug testing Beasley. Then, following a number of failed drug tests, Beasley was set up for this rehab stint by the league. That doesn't typically happen if you clear the drug test. If the report is correct, it could mean that Beasley is in danger of breaching the limit on failed tests that result in a suspension.

The report also indicated that sources close to Beasley deny he is suffering from depression.

The fact is no one knows what's going on with this story. It started with a blurry picture posted on a social media site. Then he was entering rehab, which it turns out he's been in for weeks. Then he was entering for depression, when a new report says it's tied to a procedural decision based on drug testing.

And since neither the NBA nor teams comment on substance abuse violations (and rightfully so), we're not likely to find out anything soon. And that in and of itself is a shame. Beasley deserves the same privacy and respect as anyone else in rehab, but he's not going to get it because he's famous and young and can't get someone to take a tighter picture of his terrible tattoo.

So the questions will continue, even though at this point it doesn't look like Beasley will be suspended for any length of time. But now it's escalated, regardless of the circumstances. Now it's about college and the downfall of American youth, about depression and how we treat the condition as a society, and everything else under the sun. Maybe the only truly relevant conversation we need to be having is about how we cover things like this, or if we should cover things like this. Because at this point, here are the only facts I'm sure of.

Michael Beasley got a terrible tattoo, then took a picture of it near a coffee table with a 7-Up bottle on it.
He was in rehab at the time.
He's still in rehab.

The end.

So, of course, keep checking NBA FanHouse for all the latest news on what we think might be going on with Beasley.