Los Angeles ? Los Angeles Lakers reserve center Soumaila Samake was suspended for five games by the NBA on Tuesday for violating the league’s steroids policy.

Samake, 24, a native of Mali in his third NBA season, will not be paid during the suspension, which began with Tuesday night’s game against Atlanta.

The league and the NBA Players Association do not disclose details regarding the testing or treatment of players in the program, but Samake issued a statement saying he had taken a dietary supplement that contained Nandrolone, a substance banned by the NBA.

He said he was unaware the supplement contained Nandrolone and that it wasn’t listed on the product he used.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he didn’t believe Samake should have been suspended because the violation occurred in the offseason.

“We’ve known about this since October, the first two days of training camp,” Jackson said. “He came forward. It was an innocent commission. We alerted the league.”

Because Shaquille O’Neal had to undergo surgery on his arthritic right big toe during the offseason, the Lakers signed the 7-foot Samake as a free agent on Aug. 23. He has appeared in six games, averaging 8 minutes, 2.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.

Samake was a second-round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets in 2000. He played in 34 games for the Nets in the 2000-01 season, averaging 1.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.6 minutes.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s legal and what’s illegal by NBA standards,” O’Neal said. “For example – this is a true story – I had a poppy seed muffin during the Olympics, right before I took the test. A couple days later, they thought I was doing coke. We later found out that poppy seeds in a muffin were the same thing as cocaine.”

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Richardson placed on IR: The Los Angeles Clippers placed guard Quentin Richardson on the injured list because of a bruised right knee Tuesday.

Richardson was injured during Friday night’s game at New Jersey.