HoopsHype.com Rumors

According to sources, the NBA and its players union are continuing to work out the details for a test for human growth hormone, but no agreement has been reached. New York Daily News

David Stern, Doping 

Despite an Internet report that stated the two sides are close to an agreement to test players’ blood for the first time for HGH, a person with direct knowledge of the talks said on Friday night, “Nothing is close.” New York Daily News

David Stern, Doping 

First, let's examine why this is happening now. The answer is because the lack of an HGH test has finally become embarrassing to the league and union. HGH is a substance with undeniable potential to help NBA players. It's widely discussed and available from any number of doctors and clinics. And Olympians have been tested for it since 2004. And yet the powers that be in the major North American leagues clung to the theory that the test was not reliable. That argument was always weak. The chief science officer at the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Larry Bowers, testified before Congress recently that HGH tests are so good that “the chances of an athlete who has not used synthetic growth hormone testing positive are comparable to the chance of that same athlete being struck by lightning during his or her lifetime.” He added that those questioning the tests were “lawyers, not scientists.” ESPN.com

CBA, Doping 

But the truth is only a tiny handful of athletes have ever failed HGH tests, and there's no reason to assume NBA players would be any different. ESPN.com

CBA, Doping 

Stern reiterated that he expects a testing protocol to be in place for human-growth hormone in time for next season. He said the adoption of biological passports -- electronic records to track biological markers related to doping -- would be "a subject for discussion with the players' association. ... Our players have been front and center on this. They want to be, and be perceived, as playing in a drug-free sport." CBSSports.com

David Stern, Doping 

When Vaughn was asked whether the NBA has a PED problem Wednesday, he definitively answered, "No. I can speak as a former player who's been in a lot of locker rooms, and I say no." I'm speaking as a sportswriter who's written a lot of columns about drug cheats in every sport, and I say yes. Superstars in nearly every athletic endeavor have been nabbed for PEDs; why would the NBA be immune? Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Jacque Vaughn, Doping 

The reason is simple: Because for years the NBA has had the weakest drug testing of all the major sports. The World Anti-Doping Agency has said the NBA's drug-testing policy is insufficient compared with those of the NFL and Major League Baseball. Orlando Sentinel

Doping 

Rod Benson: The only time basketball players use the word “steroids” is when making fun of some dude on their team who is just big for no reason. My current teammate, Ira Clark, is pretty jacked, so it’s funny to say things like “lay off the juice, homie!” But I’ve never meant it. My reason is that I have literally never seen PEDs, seen another guy doing them, or heard of anyone doing anything like that in my entire life. Granted, I’m not in the NBA, but I’m still a part of the hoop fraternity, and it’s never come up. I’ve even recently asked numerous other players if they suspect anyone of having used PEDs, and they all say no. I may get a “well that MF-er Dwight is pretty damn big,” but even that is half-hearted. I’d say that at least guarantees that it’s not a steroid culture like people have claimed baseball to be during the home run record chase. HoopsHype

Rod Benson, Doping 

Rod Benson: Further, for the most part you can’t get away with it. Us basketball players are tested and the process sucks. I’ve had tests in both the D-League, which uses the same method as the NBA, and overseas. They all suck. You never quite get used to walking directly off the floor after a game and being ushered into a random bathroom. You (I) almost never have the urge to urinate, and you find yourself standing there stark naked for 25 minutes while some dude stares directly at your genitals while trying to make small talk about how he gave Tim Duncan a test last week. I personally wouldn’t know how to cheat in that situation. The possibility of a whizzonator is completely out the window. HoopsHype

Rod Benson, Doping 

Rod Benson: In certain countries, they give you blood tests, too. And guess what? They’re not just checking for PEDs, they’re checking for HIV’s, player. Every August overseas is a free, nerve-racking, HIV test that you never get the results for. You just get to keep playing if you don’t have it. What’s funny is that in all my years of playing, I’ve only ever heard of guys getting sent home for HIV and THC, but never PED. HoopsHype

Rod Benson, Doping 

Rod Benson: In basketball, the most athletic guys are sometimes the guys you never want to see on the floor when the game counts. The biggest guys are the most awkward, and generally end up in foul trouble. Sure, the appeal to be more athletic exists for all basketball players. But from my experience, some guys don’t even want to lift that hard or change their bodies much, because their games are so fine-tuned. There are a wide range of body types and levels of athleticism in the league, and if a guy is lacking something, he will be more likely to say “that’s not my game,” then he will be to take a PED. Just look at KD. Skinny. Dynamic. Awesome. Proud. Never going to try to body anyone, no matter how many times Skip Bayless says that’s the only thing lacking from his game. I know that there are many types of PEDs that can aid in anything ranging from injury rehab, to overall athleticism. So in theory, players could take something just to recover from a microfracture surgery. It just seems to me that all the basketball players I know don’t think that risk is worth it. HoopsHype

Rod Benson, Skip Bayless, Doping 

In December, Representative Elijah Cummings called it “incredibly ridiculous” that the NFL does not test for human growth hormone (HGH), lamenting years of stalling tactics from the players union. Cummings, from Maryland, is the ranking Democrat on a committee that has held many a hearing on doping in professional sports. His feelings about the NFL apply to the NBA, too. A few days after the NFL hearings, his office emailed ESPN.com the following quote: According to the expert witnesses who testified at our hearing, there is consensus among the scientific community that HGH testing is safe and reliable. Since the NBA agreed last year to start HGH testing -- and since professional basketball players already compete in the Olympics where they are subject to HGH testing -- there is no reason to delay HGH testing for the NBA itself. My hope is that all our professional sports leagues implement HGH testing right away to set an example for millions of young athletes across the country who look up to them. ESPN.com

Doping 

The director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency says the NBA's anti-doping program is insufficient. "They've got gaps in their program, between what they do and what we suggest would be better," David Howman said. "They know what we would suggest," added Howman, who calls for the NBA to test for human growth hormone, among other things. "And I would just hope that they would be discussing all of those things rather than just putting them on the side table." The NBA declined comment. ESPN.com

David Stern, Owners, Doping 

In the past, including in testimony before Congress in 2005, NBA officials have made the case that performance-enhancing drugs are unlikely to be effective in basketball. "They do not feel they have such an issue as the other major leagues and therefore haven't addressed it in quite the same way," Howman said. "I just think you've got to be very careful when you start saying performance-enhancing drugs are not beneficial in any sport, because you're going to be proven wrong. And you'll be proven wrong when you're not expecting it." ESPN.com

David Stern, Owners, Doping 

The director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency says the NBA's anti-doping program is insufficient. "They've got gaps in their program, between what they do and what we suggest would be better," David Howman said. "They know what we would suggest," added Howman, who calls for the NBA to test for human growth hormone, among other things. "And I would just hope that they would be discussing all of those things rather than just putting them on the side table." ESPN.com

Doping 

"They do not feel they have such an issue as the other major leagues and therefore haven't addressed it in quite the same way," Howman said. "I just think you've got to be very careful when you start saying performance-enhancing drugs are not beneficial in any sport, because you're going to be proven wrong. And you'll be proven wrong when you're not expecting it." ESPN.com

Doping 

"I had meetings last week with both the MLB and the NFL," Howman told ESPN.com by phone. "Although through their collectively bargained agreements, they have not embraced the World Anti-Doping Code, they've certainly come much closer. "Everybody likes to think their sport is one that's not tainted. We work on the basis that there's no sport, and no country, which is immune. Better, therefore, to be aggressive in the way you go forward than to be complacent. I think those who are too complacent end up being bitten where they don't like to be bitten." ESPN.com

Doping 

We had been told, for years, that steroids wouldn't help in basketball. We covered the sport, knew and liked players, and believed the sport generally to be clean. What's more, to suggest that basketball was dirty, or that there were drug cheats in the sport, was to come pretty close to accusing Stenstrup, a guy NBA players turn to for high-end workout advice, of knowing about it, or worse. The simple thing would have been for Stenstrup to go along with our theories. We wanted him to reassure us. Our beloved sport, his beloved clientele, all clean and Stenstrup did not tell us that the NBA was full of dopers, or anything like it. But he sure dumped cold water on the whole "wouldn't help in the NBA" theory.determined to stay that way. Bless him, though, that Corey Stenstrup. He's a straight shooter. His words, with just a hint of annoyance at our ignorance, cut the air -- and the B.S. "Guys," he announced, "all that stuff helps." ESPN.com

Doping