For at least a weekend, it looked like the NBA’s focus for testing at the Orlando campus would focus only on COVID-19. That led many to ask the question, will performance-enhancing drugs now be allowed? Well, it was clarified on Monday that no, in fact, they will not be.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Monday that the NBA will indeed test for PEDs during the restart of the season at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, but that the league will still not test players for recreational drugs. Also on Monday, Charlotte Hornets guard Malik Monk was reinstated after a violating the league’s anti-drug policy.
Sources: The NBA and NBPA have agreed to conduct performance-enhancing drug testing during resumed 2019-20 season in Orlando — but tests for recreational drugs will remain suspended.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 8, 2020
The Lakers have had several players get notable surprise drug tests over the past year, including Danny Green doing so after a rare dunk and Alex Caruso getting tested following a photoshopped photo of him looking very inflated. However, that means that those two, as well as the rest of the players in the bubble, should expect to be tested for performance-enhancing drugs. But while the league won’t be testing for recreational drugs such as cannabis, Florida is a medical-only state, meaning that only people with medical cards can have cannabis, while recreational possession remains criminalized.
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