"My thought". The NBA definitely chose the right player to make an example of in this matter. It brought the message/warning across, and it didn't give them a hard decision because he isn't a player whose name is spelled L-E-B-R-O-N. Because if it was actually a player such as Lebron or one of those "highly-endorsed" players, then we could truly expect the NBA to hide this matter from the public, OR have the player make a "public apology" + a suspension, but not a life-time ban.
I think all NBA players are still popular because all are good players but there are only some who excels a little than the rest and they do because they prove they can. They are most importantly honest about their plays but I think NBA won't give an exception even to them once proven guilty of getting involved in such act.
They need to be fair and transparent or else their reputation is the ones who will get affected and many people won't support them anymore. Doing such disciplinary measures is great, so that there will be no or there are only less players who will attempt of committing such act. I'm sure most players will choose both fame and money over money only and get a bad name.