D.J. Cooper stepped away from AS Monaco late in 2018 for “family reasons,” but as it turned out, he was actually suspended.
The un-drafted player out of Ohio in 2013 submitted urine for a drug test and was handed a two-year suspension from FIBA for failing, not because of performance enhancing drugs or recreational drugs, but because the test revealed that he was pregnant.
The test on the urine that Cooper provided revealed the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, which is a hormone made by the placenta during pregnancy. That urine belonged to his girlfriend, who likely did not know she was pregnant and Cooper found out before she did.
FIBA suspended Cooper for fraud. He’s eligible to return on June 20, 2020.
Cooper played for the Bobcats from 2009-2013, averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per contest. He would take his talents overseas after he went un-drafted, where he would average 6.7 points and 7.2 assists over 26 games in his last season with Monaco in 2017-18.
