Hornets’ Taylor reportedly won’t appeal 24-game suspension

Charlotte Hornets forward Jeffery Taylor will not appeal the 24-game suspension handed down this week by the NBA after he pleaded guilty last month in a domestic violence case, according to a report.

After commissioner Adam Silver suspended Taylor on Wednesday, National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said a day later that the league’s punishment was “excessive, without precedent and a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.”

Multiple media outlets reported Friday that Taylor will accept the suspension, which will cost him nearly $200,000 of his $915,000 salary. Taylor pleaded guilty in October to misdemeanor domestic violence assault and malicious destruction of hotel property after an incident in September in East Lansing, Mich.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement gives Silver the right to suspend players, but Roberts challenged the severity of the punishment.

“The CBA contemplates a minimum 10-game suspension in any case involving a conviction for a violent felony, including domestic violence,” Roberts said Thursday in a statement. “In contrast, Jeff Taylor was charged with a misdemeanor that is likely to be dismissed at the end of a probationary period.”

Taylor has yet to play this season.

In September, Taylor was arrested and charged in East Lansing after an altercation with a woman at a local hotel. Last month, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence assault and malicious destruction of hotel property and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. The assault charge against the security officer was dismissed.

Taylor was ordered as part of the probation to complete 26 weeks in a domestic violence intervention program, enter an outpatient alcohol treatment program and perform alcohol sensor tests daily for 60 days followed by random testing, and perform 80 hours of community service.