Enhanced Performance And The NBA

[Bahku]

Forgive me if this has recently been addressed, but the whole A-Rod situation has brought this back to the forefront in my mind, and I find there to be a bit of unfairness going on somewhere.

I have to say that I disagree with the there being such strict enforcement of the guidelines on doping in baseball, football, cycling, Olympic sports, and, (well, you get the idea), and there being pretty much a "free pass" in hoops.

Yes, there is some testing on a limited level, but the gaps in protocols and enforcement are a joke to say the least. If nothing else, can we at least approach some level of consistency among professional sports when it comes to this question?

I mean, I look at guys like LeBron, Blake Griffin, Harden, Oden, Metta World Peace, Carmelo, Sprewell, Stoudemire, Durant, etc., and wonder just how different things would be if those rules were strictly enforced ... not saying they dope, because i certainly have no idea, but it's clearly a possibility in my mind with such "superior" athletes.

And could it be that it's best for the sport if doping rules aren't strictly adhered to? Is it more exciting and worth the violation of rules in the long run? That could be the case as well, and is most likely the mind-set of those in charge.

But then how can you justify it and then get upset at guys like A-Rod, Clemens, Armstrong, Maddux, Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis, Barry Bonds, et al? I dunno ... seems like a double-standard to me, though, and what's good for one sport SHOULD be good for all, IMHO ... I'm just not sure what that should be.

Personally I have many mixed emotions, as I think doping for some and not others is extremely unfiar to those who commit to staying "clean", but I also am quite confident in saying that MANY athletes have been using chemical substnaces to enhance their abilities, and that this has been going on for a LONG time.

No easy answer to this one ... you HAVE to have rules and regulations, and when you have them they need to be enforced for EVERYone, not just some ... but where do you draw the line, and how does it reflect on what has already happend and the records and accomplishments already achieved by many who were violating those rules?

It's a tough one for me ... your thoughts?

[wdleehi]

Because we don't know.



You throw out names of players where there is no evidence except most of those names had to go through Olympic style test at some point in their careers. 



And the NBA is not worried about their numbers.  Much like the NFL where players do get suspended. 


MLB is all about the records. 


NBA isn't. 




Plus, those guys were caught.  Much like Lewis when he played for the Magic. 



So forgive fans for not getting upset about guy not being caught using performance enhancing substances. 

[D.o.s.]

Innocent until proven guilty.

Re MLB being about records:

The sportswriters who've consolidated themselves around baseball, especially the baseball Hall of Fame, have turned into, as a body, a laughable crew of Grantland Rice-ian hyperbolizing mouthbreathers.

They suck. They're awful, and they're holding up an absurd double standard when it comes to performance enhancing drugs and baseball, especially as it relates to the Hall of Fame and records being broken. I would be vast sums of money that most of them get hard over the idea of amending an asterisk to any record broken by an MLB player who was born after 1970.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Kinda funny...cause as I watching The Clippers/C's game the other night---I was thinking that if Chris Humphries was on steroids---he would be Blake Griffin---and if Griffin was NOT----he would be Humphries....I think this is True.

[D.o.s.]

Kinda funny...cause as I watching The Clippers/C's game the other night---I was thinking that if Chris Humphries was on steroids---he would be Blake Griffin---and if Griffin was NOT----he would be Humphries....I think this is True.

Because Hedo was soooooooo jacked when he got caught....

[pokeKingCurtis]

Yeah. Much as I dislike LeBron and would love it to be true, the others are right. Innocent until proven guilty.

Plus, I've read doping has limited use in basketball since the sport requires finesse.

However, this thread reminds me of Marc Cuban saying he wants HGH to be allowed for injuries.

[Roy H.]

The NBA doesn't care if its players are using PEDs, so long as the big stars aren't getting caught.  The more super-human the players are, the better the ratings are.

It's the same position baseball took for years, until the doping became too obvious to ignore.

It's the same position the NFL is currently taking, where guys are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever, and yet very few players test dirty.

It's the same position that cycling teams took, and the same one as the Jamaican track team.  Everyone is willing to look the other way so long as fame and fortune are attached.

[vinnie]

The NBA doesn't care if its players are using PEDs, so long as the big stars aren't getting caught.  The more super-human the players are, the better the ratings are.

It's the same position baseball took for years, until the doping became too obvious to ignore.

It's the same position the NFL is currently taking, where guys are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever, and yet very few players test dirty.

It's the same position that cycling teams took, and the same one as the Jamaican track team.  Everyone is willing to look the other way so long as fame and fortune are attached.

Bingo

[obnoxiousmime]

Maybe this is a little naive but I have to think that if it were a widespread problem there would be more evidence of it than a handful of players being suspended over the years. In an organization of 450+ individual athletes it's hard for me to believe that more wouldn't slip up in evading testing (admittedly the NBA testing is lax) or be perfect in their sourcing.

That being said the NBA should jump ahead of the issue and institute a stronger testing policy. If the league is as clean as they claim, why not prove it to as far a degree as possible? All it would take is for one star to be caught and their brand is irreparably damaged. Though basketball is not a stats-driven league, it IS the league most dependent on individual stars.

I know they'll never do it because of money, but all sports leagues need to think about shortening the length of their schedules or give more off time between games. One of the big uses of PEDs is to recover faster from injury. By continuing this long grind of an 82-game schedule you're pressuring athletes to recover faster.

For example, why don't we eliminate back-to-backs? You would never allow it in football, but for some reason in basketball it's OK, when everybody knows the team playing for the second time in two nights is at a significant disadvantage. Doesn't this affect the product? You've got tired athletes who can't put forth the same effort on the second night. Also, wouldn't increasing the time available for practice result in improved, less sloppy team play?

Not to get off on too much of a tangent but the 82-game season is already a joke. You've got veteran teams resting players instead of doing everything they can to secure homecourt advantage. The one extra home game you get in a playoff series is meaningless if your team is fatigued or even injured. Not to mention it's way too easy to make the playoffs. By the end of the Celtics' run playoff seeding had become almost meaningless to them, besides avoiding the 7 or 8 spot.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

What doesn't add up is why the players associations are so hostile to comprehensive testing? Ads they hiding something or are they really that invasive?

[indeedproceed]

What doesn't add up is why the players associations are so hostile to comprehensive testing? Ads they hiding something or are they really that invasive?

Look at what happened to Alex Rodrigeuz. He didn't test positive for anything. At best the league has a case that he wanted to obtain goods that would enhance his performance. But it's not about that anymore,  now it's about a league who is slave to public outcry.

That same crap would happen in the NBA. Eventually people will want a witch hunt, and ultimately they'll burn a witch, whether or no she actually used magic.

[D.o.s.]

What doesn't add up is why the players associations are so hostile to comprehensive testing? Ads they hiding something or are they really that invasive?

Look at what happened to Alex Rodrigeuz. He didn't test positive for anything. At best the league has a case that he wanted to obtain goods that would enhance his performance. But it's not about that anymore,  now it's about a league who is slave to public outcry.

That same crap would happen in the NBA. Eventually people will want a witch hunt, and ultimately they'll burn a witch, whether or no she actually used magic.

Pretty much.

I'd wager that the Players Union is less hostile to the idea than they're posturing--that's why it's their initial stance, so that when there's yet another lockout and that issue gets brought up, the compromise will be closer to what's acceptable for both parties. That's why it's a negotiation.

[csfansince60s]

Forgive me if this has recently been addressed, but the whole A-Rod situation has brought this back to the forefront in my mind, and I find there to be a bit of unfairness going on somewhere.

I have to say that I disagree with the there being such strict enforcement of the guidelines on doping in baseball, football, cycling, Olympic sports, and, (well, you get the idea), and there being pretty much a "free pass" in hoops.

Yes, there is some testing on a limited level, but the gaps in protocols and enforcement are a joke to say the least. If nothing else, can we at least approach some level of consistency among professional sports when it comes to this question?

I mean, I look at guys like LeBron, Blake Griffin, Harden, Oden, Metta World Peace, Carmelo, Sprewell, Stoudemire, Durant, etc., and wonder just how different things would be if those rules were strictly enforced ... not saying they dope, because i certainly have no idea, but it's clearly a possibility in my mind with such "superior" athletes.

And could it be that it's best for the sport if doping rules aren't strictly adhered to? Is it more exciting and worth the violation of rules in the long run? That could be the case as well, and is most likely the mind-set of those in charge.

But then how can you justify it and then get upset at guys like A-Rod, Clemens, Armstrong, Maddux, Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis, Barry Bonds, et al? I dunno ... seems like a double-standard to me, though, and what's good for one sport SHOULD be good for all, IMHO ... I'm just not sure what that should be.

Personally I have many mixed emotions, as I think doping for some and not others is extremely unfiar to those who commit to staying "clean", but I also am quite confident in saying that MANY athletes have been using chemical substnaces to enhance their abilities, and that this has been going on for a LONG time.

No easy answer to this one ... you HAVE to have rules and regulations, and when you have them they need to be enforced for EVERYone, not just some ... but where do you draw the line, and how does it reflect on what has already happend and the records and accomplishments already achieved by many who were violating those rules?

It's a tough one for me ... your thoughts?

Bahku, +1 on a thought provoking post, as usual!

The acceptance of PED use by many fans of basketball, particularly is disturbing to me.

It is disturbing because of where this slippery slope of acceptance slides to: college and high school.

PED use in high school is rampant. The pressure on young student-athletes to use PEDs to advance to higher levels of the sport, acquire scholarships, etc is tremendous.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2013/07/30/does-pro-ped-use-put-pressure-on-young-athletes-to-do-the-same-surveys-say-yes/

“As Major League Baseball announces the suspension of former Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun, a survey by the Digital Citizens Alliance (a consumer-oriented group focused on making the Internet a safer place) found that nearly half of males aged 18-25 thought that taking PEDs was critical to making it in professional sports or enhancing one’s athletic performance.

More than three-quarters of both young males and parents in our survey said that pro athletes using PEDs has put pressure on young athletes to use drugs as well. And 58 percent of these young males thought that at least one-third of the major leaguers on the rosters in last week’s All-Star Game had used PEDs.

“For every Ryan Braun, there may be thousands of young athletes taking steroids and risking their health in hopes of excelling on their high school team, their college team, or making it in pro sports,” said Digital Citizens Alliance Executive Director Tom Galvin. “They look at their heroes, too many of whom have turned to PEDs to enhance their performance, and conclude that taking these dangerous drugs is the only way to fame and fortune.”

So for everyone who wants to be "entertained" by jacked up athletes who "make it", think about the thousands of kids who jack themselves up so they can try to make it too.

Pretty sad.