is it, by chance, UP/DOWN play, and not SIDE play? i ran into a cheapo GXP bottom bracket a few months ago... BOTH SIDES had the larger drive side bearing! Not kidding... BOTH bearings measured 24 mm! Ordered from China dealer, via Ebay, at about 1/2 normal cost.... and there were multiple dealers selling them at this reduced cost... i'd imagine some unscrupulous money monger didn't want to lose out after some flunky stuffed the wrong bearings into the BB's, so he sold them to the unwitting dealers of overstock items... all the dealers were NOT Bicycle specific parts sellers, and the three that i contacted didn't begin know what a Bottom Bracket was! Ebay refunded the customer, and the seller didn't want the BB shipped back......
GXP bottom brackets have a 24mm bearing size on the drive side, and a 22mm bearing on the NDS... the 24mm has a nylon sleeve installed... if that sleeve is missing, THAT side can also be loose, UP/DOWN-wise...
as to the spacers provided, they are used when installing a universal BB into a road bike frame, and can be switched around to offset the crank for certain frames, to even up crank-to frame spacing, or to achieve improved chain line alignment.... they are NOT for the MTB installs, only for the ROAD BIKE installs, as far as i've found.
GREASE the seal/covers, to slow bearing failures... GXP BB's last about 1/2 the time of Shimano Hollowtech BB's, btw. My sponsored CX racer has a GXP setup... when the chain rings get worn out to the point of needing replaced, we will be switching to a Hollowtech 2 crankset/BB. The "24mm" bearing is really about a 28 mm bearing ID, and the balls are ridiculously tiny! they trash in short order during CX use.... i've heard of really early failures from folks on this forum, and two other forums, also. One lasted all of two weeks during the winter.
Last edited by maddog34; 05-24-17 at 03:20 AM.