Mayo hopeful of return to Bucks when suspension ends: 'I owe them'
O.J. Mayo has served half of his NBA-issued two-year suspension for drug abuse, and he has his sights set on returning to the league when he becomes eligible for reinstatement on July 1, 2018.
After hitting what he says was "rock bottom" in the immediate aftermath of the suspension, Mayo has spent the past few months reorienting his eating and living habits, training and working out rigorously, and getting his body back into playing shape. Mayo, who took all of last year off, is interested in playing pro ball this season in China, Spain, or Israel, but has yet to receive an offer, he told Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated in an interview published Monday.
"When you mess up, teams wonder whether they want to put their hands on you," Mayo said. "I respect that. They can only go by a rap sheet or a resume. If I get somewhere, I think I can change the perception."
Mayo's ultimate hope is to return to his last NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks, to whom he felt strongly connected, and to whom he feels indebted after three rocky seasons.
"I want to go back to what I left (in Milwaukee)," he told Golliver. "I was real close with (head coach) Jason Kidd. I had great relationships with Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Khris Middleton. I was comfortable there. I felt like I let them down, cheated them for two years. They paid me $8 million to be, in my eyes, a subpar player. They invested millions of dollars for me to be on top of my s---, and when you're not on top of your s---, it shows. I'll be 30 next summer. If they just give me the chance, I can make it up. I owe them."
Mayo understands why teams would be wary of taking a chance on him, given his checkered history, but he also wants to make a clear distinction between the decisions he's made and the person he is.
"I'm far from crazy," he told Golliver. "I've made some crazy a-- decisions, but I'm not crazy. I'm good with myself. I'm comfortable with my body. I dug myself a hole, but it's not a coffin. I can still get out."