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Charlotte Hornets forward Jeff Taylor has been charged with domestic assault
Several recent cases involving NFL players have made domestic violence one of the most talked about issues in the world of sports. The NBA now has its own incident to assess.
Police in East Lansing, Michigan announced Thursday that they have charged Charlotte Hornets forward Jeff Taylor, a college star at Vanderbilt who was born and raised in Sweden, with domestic assault, assault, and malicious damage to property. Steve Reed of the Associated Press has the few current details:
The police department said in a release Thursday that the 25-year-old Taylor was charged with one count of domestic assault, one count of assault and one count of malicious destruction of property. His bond was set at $5,000.
East Lansing Police Lieutenant Steve Gonzalez declined to provide further details about the arrest when contacted by The Associated Press.
According to the release, police officers responded to an incident at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place around 1 a.m. Thursday.
The Hornets say they are aware of the incident involving the third-year forward and are gathering more information. A release from the team stated, ''This is a matter that we take very seriously.''
It is as yet unclear how the NBA will decide to handle Taylor's case and potential punishment. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the league can suspend a player for a minimum of 10 games for a first offense involving a conviction for any violent felony. However, commissioner Adam Silver said Monday that the NBA would review its domestic violence policies. From Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press:
''We learn from other leagues' experiences,'' Silver said. ''We're studying everything that's been happening in the NFL. We're working with our players' association. We've been talking for several weeks and we're going to take a fresh look at everything we do.'' [...]
''We have in place the appropriate mechanisms for discipline, although we'll take a fresh look at those as well,'' Silver said. ''But most importantly, it's education, and it's not just the players, but it's the players' families. That's what we're learning, too.
''We have to take these programs directly to the players' spouses, directly to their partners so that they're aware of places they can go to express concerns, whether they're anonymous hotlines, team executives, league executives. And we're consulting experts. There's a lot to be learned here. It's a societal problem; it's not one that's unique to sports.''
Silver's comments do not suggest that the NBA as an organization will rush to suspend players before the legal process plays out, but they do indicate that he's aware of the NFL's mistakes during its recent mishandling of its various domestic violence cases. He has plenty of examples to consider as avoidable precedent. As noted by Brett Pollakoff of ProBasketballTalk, a 10-game suspension for Taylor — still very much a hypothetical, because he is only alleged to have committed these crimes — would be roughly the same as the much-criticized two-game suspension that Roger Goodell visited upon then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice before his subsequent release and indefinite suspension. Similarly, various NFL teams — including the Carolina Panthers, the Hornets' neighbors in Charlotte — have failed to act quickly in holding accused players out of competition while their legal processes unfold.
Owner Michael Jordan has some time to make a decision on Taylor's status, because the regular season does not begin until late October. However, Hornets training camp does open in Asheville, N.C. next Tuesday. If Taylor is present, it's fair to predict that the franchise will receive negative attention. We will find out soon if the NBA and its teams are ready to accept the sports world's new standard for the proper response to charges of domestic violence.
The Hornets franchise — then known as the Bobcats — selected Taylor with the first pick in the second round (31st overall) in the 2012 NBA Draft. In two seasons with the team, he has played in 103 games with 37 starts. Last season, Taylor averaged 8.0 ppg before rupturing his Achilles tendon on December 20 in a game vs. the Detroit Pistons. Days prior to his arrest, he told the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell that he was fully healed and prepared to show that he deserved playing time despite the offseason addition of Lance Stephenson and continued presence of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
