Players With the Longest Suspensions in Sports
Sports fans get to celebrate athletes when they're at their peak performance, but sometimes they see the worst sides of players, too. Here are some of the longest suspensions handed to pro athletes in North American sports.
NBA
To start with, there's a brawl that's so infamous, it's the subject of a Netflix documentary. With less than a minute left in a 2004 game between the Pistons and Pacers, a fan tossed a drink at Pacers forward Ron Artest. The ensuing fight between players and fans became known as Malice at the Palace. Artest received an 86-game ban, while teammates Stephen Jackson (30 games) and Jermaine O'Neal (25 games) were also suspended.
NHL
It's common to see hockey players leveling bone-crushing hits against opponents, but hits to the head are reckless. In 2015, the league issued one of its longest-ever suspensions for on-ice behavior to Raffi Torres. The San Jose Sharks forward received a 41-game suspension for directing his left shoulder into the head of Anaheim's Jakob Silfverberg. Torres was previously suspended for hits against Chicago Blackhawks' Marian Hossa (21 games) and LA Kings center Jarret Stoll (six games).
MLB
Many of MLB's longest suspensions are for off-field behavior. Free agent pitcher Sam Dyson was suspended the entire 2021 season because of domestic violence. In 2013, three-time MVP Alex Rodriguez was banned for 162 games for using performance-enhancing drugs. Houston Astros relief pitcher Francis Martes received the same suspension in 2020. And in one of the highest-profile punishments doled out by MLB, all-time hits leader Pete Rose was permanently banned from the league in 1989 for gambling.
MLS
In 2011, Colorado Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan was suspended for 10 games for a reckless tackle on Seattle Sounders winger Steve Zakuani, breaking Zakuani's leg in two places. Houston Dynamo's Ricardo Clark was suspended for nine games in 2007 after kicking FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz in the right shoulder while he was on the ground.
NFL
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was suspended for six games at the end of the 2020 season. Garrett pulled off the helmet of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and struck him in the head with it. Previously, the longest NFL suspension for on-field behavior was a five-game ban in 2006 to Albert Haynesworth of the Tennessee Titans, who violently stomped on the head of Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode.