Shabazz Muhammad Reportedly Dismissed from NBA Rookie Program

Shabazz Muhammad has reportedly been dismissed from the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program for bringing a female guest back to his hotel room in Florham Park, N.J.

USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt first reported the news on Wednesday morning.

Merely hours prior to being sent home, Muhammad was given a list of rules, one of which was that no guests—male or female—would be permitted without approval from the program’s administration.

The Minnesota Timberwolves swingman will be fined for his actions and will miss the remainder of the four-day seminar—which concludes on Friday—that is intended to aid young men in their transition to the Association.

Zillgitt noted that Muhammad will be required to return to the rookie symposium next season—as a second-year player—with the Class of 2014 draftees and other players who have yet to attend the program.

This isn’t a good sign for Muhammad, who already dealt with an off-court scandal during his time at UCLA. It was discovered that the freshman forward was actually 20 years old, not 19 as previously believed.  

Muhammad is also coming off a poor Las Vegas Summer League performance, in which he averaged just 8.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists over six contests.

Many organizations were wary of Muhammad going into the draft, and his stock fell significantly from the beginning of the 2012-13 collegiate season—when he was a consensus top-five pick—to the NBA draft in June. He ultimately landed at the back end of the lottery, going No. 14 overall to Minnesota.

Muhammad is not the first player to be punished for violating the rules at the Rookie Transition Program. Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were all fined and banished from the event in 2008 for being caught with women and having the scent of marijuana emanating from their hotel room.  

The level of punishment Muhammad will receive for his actions remains to be seen.