Michael Beasley said that an off-season stay in a rehabilitation facility was his "lowest hour," denied that he has a substance-abuse problem and apologized Friday to the Miami Heat organization.
Beasley would not reveal any details of the treatment he received in Houston, other than acknowledging that he became "pretty upset" upon learning his stay would be considerably longer than first planned. That anger, he said, sparked a wave of troubling messages posted on his now-closed Twitter feed.
"Being locked down for as long as I was gave me a chance to really get my life organized and get back in touch with myself," Beasley said. "I think over this past year, I've got caught up in the NBA life, as most of us do. I think this gave me the perfect opportunity to just sit down and evaluate my life and get the good separated from the bad."
On the eve of the Chicago Bulls' training camp, star point guard Derrick Rose reiterated that he took the SAT to get into Memphis and dismissed the idea that someone did so in his place.
"I took it, I took it," Rose said Friday.
The NBA's rookie of the year last season, Rose found himself at the center of a scandal over the summer when the NCAA ruled that Memphis must vacate its 38 wins and national championship game appearance during the 2007-08 season for using an ineligible player. The school is appealing the ruling.
The NCAA said an unknown person took the SAT for a player -- with his knowledge -- and that the player used it to get admitted. The governing body said the athlete played for the Tigers only during the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA tournament. Rose is the only person who fits that description, but he insisted no one took the test for him.
Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh is expected to miss the start of training camp Tuesday because of a strained left hamstring. . . . The Indiana Pacers have signed Coach Jim O'Brien through the 2010-11 season.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Binghamton cuts five more players
Binghamton released five more players, a day after star player Emanuel "Tiki" Mayben was arraigned on cocaine distribution charges and kicked off the team.
Coach Kevin Broadus announced that D.J. Rivera, Malik Alvin, Corey Chandler, Paul Crosby and David Fine were released.
Spokesman John Hartrick told the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y., that the five were released because "they are not toeing the line. Their attitude and behavior . . . is not what we expect from our student-athletes."
