Has an NBA Player Ever Been Suspended for Steroids?
Has an NBA Player Ever Been Suspended for Steroids?
By Jason Bolton July 26, 2024 03:16
There are widespread concerns about the prevalence of performance-enhancing drug (PED) use across professional sports. The NBA is no different. Thus, the NBA has experienced its collection of suspensions due to banned substances, including steroids, that have led to further wonder regarding the role of PEDs in basketball and the systems in place to intercept them. In this post, we look at the history of steroid use and suspensions in the NBA, cases of NBA players being suspended for steroids, how the league handles and polices steroids, and much more.
Steroid Use and Suspensions in NBA
Although the NBA is not as synonymous with steroid scandals as other professional sports leagues (i.e., MLB and NFL), it has been hit with issues related to PEDs. Performance-enhancing drugs, and steroid use in particular, have been an issue in the NBA, resulting in numerous suspensions and allegations through the years.
Players throughout the early years of the NBA were never permanently banned for point-shaving in college. On one side comes a player who was briefly banned from the NBA following his college days, Connie Hawkins, who was not allowed to play in the league after his being linked to a point-shaving scandal at the college level led to a ban in 1961 that was formally instituted in 1966. Hawkins first took the NBA to court in an unfair banishment suit, which he won, and he reached an agreement with the league to lift the ban in 1969 when he joined the Phoenix Suns.
NBA Players Suspended for PEDs
Although the NBA's anti-drug policy has concentrated in recent years on recreational drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana, there have been instances when NBA players have been suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs like steroids. A good example is Micheal Ray Richardson, who was banished from playing in the league for violating the NBA substance abuse policy multiple times. It took him two years before he was reinstated (1988), but he never played in the NBA again.
The NBA has most recently been given a reassignment to do for a slew of PED-related suspensions. Three players returned a positive test during the 2019-20 season and received 25-game suspensions for banned substances. Brooklyn Forwards Wilson Chandler was nailed for Ipamorelin, the Suns Center Deandre Ayton tested positive for a diuretic, and Hawks Power Forward John Collins for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide-2.
The NBA's Anti-Performance Enhancement Drug Policies and Enforcement
The NBA's anti-drug policy, established in conjunction with the NBPA, mandated that a player who tests positive for a third time for illegal drug use be banned for life, with reinstatement possible after two years. While this policy has been disproportionately applied toward substances like cocaine and methamphetamine and performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids, it still exists.
The league can administer up to 1,525 tests in a calendar year or 600 during the offseason. The length of the suspension would depend on the substance and how many times the player has been caught. The NBA's drug policy would also give the player recourse to ask an arbitrator to review the suspension.
The NBA wanting to control the use of PEDs and enforcing its banned drug policy represents an attempt to keep the game clean and competitive. Only, as the league argues, it's still difficult to identify and dissuade players from using steroids after being penalized. While the NBA endeavors to maintain the purity of the game, PEDs in professional basketball will likely become an ongoing topic of discussion and debate.
The NBA has yet to see any massive controversy spiral out due to the use of steroids. However, several NBA players have been suspended. The policies and procedures promulgated by the league are intended to prevent and aggressively police PED use and hold violators accountable for their conduct. However, this speaks about something, and the larger ideas and arguments reflect the continuing problems regarding doping in basketball.
In the end, the NBA's approach to combating steroids and maintaining sporting integrity serves as a stern reminder of the importance of keeping effective drug-testing programs in place so that whatever happens, cheating remains a rare exception on the court.
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