Roids and the NBA

I was flipping through the Boston Globe website recently trying to gather intelligence on the BB Davis situation and came across an interesting piece here about the role of medical professionals in administering steroids in the MLB.


Although the allegations of steroids in the NBA have come nowhere close to those in MLB, they did merit a congressional hearing (mostly overrun with denials), an uproar over failed tests by Rashard Lewis, Lindsay Hunter, and Soumalia Samake, and the issue continues to hum just below the radar given other problems the league faces.

Despite this limited attention, I'm left wondering how do we know for sure that steroids are not a big problem in the NBA? Are we to believe that the NBA players are somehow much better than their colleagues in other professional sports?

Unsurprisingly, my opinion on the matter became more cynical after reading Massa Stern's blanket denial of the problem. Seems like there must be something underneath this.

Three Dog Night

We are fans of truth and accuracy in everything we do, and particularly in the statements of NBAers. Thus we were refreshed when we read the police report about Charles Barkley’s recent arrest for drunk driving on New Year’s Eve in Arizona. Barkley was straightforward and frank with the arresting officer and did not deny either that (i) he was drunk and driving too fast, or (ii) that his female companion was not in his car to fix his stereo.

Predictably, some internet voices are ticked off about Barkley behaving like a fool. But Barkley has long maintained that he is not a role model. Drunk driving, of course, is gravely serious business, and perhaps a man who styles himself as something of a moral arbiter of all things hoopwise should not have that podium when his Kantian ethics are very questionable. (And there may be behavioral covenants in his employment contract with TNT.) I am surprised, though, at the sudden Puritanism from many who should know better. How many NBA players are able to celibately resist the fragrant charms of road life? How many NBA players have never partied hard with alcohol, marijuana, or worse? Yes, Barkley’s predicament is funny, but it really should not surprise anyone.