The NBA's Drug Policy Victimizes Ricky Davis

Ricky Davis no longer plays for the Heat; he's been a member of the Clippers since the beginning of the season. But in any uniform, Ricky can now be categorized with a single word: victim.

That's one way to look at it I suppose, as we received word that Davis has been suspended by the NBA for five games for violating terms of the league's drug program.

It's not like Ricky has had anything better to do lately, so you can hardly blame him. Since November 22nd, Davis has been out with a knee injury, and his return was slated for sometime in January. The suspension won't begin until Davis has been declared "physically able to play," so once it begins, it might last until February. Which would probably be just fine with the Clippers.

Despite L.A.'s obvious lack of depth, they have plenty of people to fill in at the guard spot, and it's not like Ricky was much help when he was playing for the Clips earlier in the season anyway. Davis averaged only four points per game, while shooting just 28 percent from the field.

Davis' absence has allowed rookie Eric Gordon to find his way into the starting lineup, where he's been performing far better than Ricky was. There isn't a team in the league that would look at a suspension like this as a positive, but where Ricky Davis is concerned, it's certainly not going to have a more negative impact on the club than his play on the court ultimately did.