Poll: Did Michael Jordan use steroids throughout his career?

[Moranis]

Here is a realgm forum post and poll

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1231886#start_here

[Moranis]

And I just mentioned this in the other thread because of the pretty rampant speculation about James with no thought that Jordan might have also used.  This isn't some new thing or idea it has been around awhile especialky with Jordan all of a sudden becoming huge (Jordan basically said he wasn't lifting weights and had just gotten beaten up by the Pistons and needed to get stronger so he spent the summer lifting weights with the help of Grover).  I mean imagine the physical change and that basic quote in the 24/7 internet era.

[johnnygreen]

And for the record there are plenty of stories on the net linking Jordan to steroids beginning around the time he met Tim Grover in the summer of 1989 at which time MJ bulked up significantly at the age of 27. If you believe he started using roids at that time it would also explain why he began distancing himself from teammates and started being far more prickly and even getting into fightsi.e. roid rage   and covering tracks (he also went bald). Remember this was before the internet and during a time when sports reporters didn't report on a lot of the off court stuff because they needed to keep relationships.

It also might explain why all of a sudden MJ retired out of the blue, some feel he was suspended for gambling but it easily could have been steroids and the league wanted to cover it up so let him "retire".  I don't have any idea if he was forced to retire or just needed a break but you could connect the dots if you felt he was using roids

At the end of the day I ave no idea if MJ was using just like I have no idea if James ever did, but neither was caught (or at least known to be caught) so I'd give both the benefit of the doubt.

Few things:

1. Jordan was always known to be an aggressive/distant guy and still is today, he has stopped talking to Charles Barkley because of negative comments on TNT about MJ's GM moves. Barkley has also said Jordan doesn't give to homeless or needy because he perceives them as lazy and weak.

2. Jordan was going bald as soon as he was in the league e.g. this is a photo from 1987

3. He 'suddenly' retired because he won 3 championships & lost his best friend and father in the most horrific way possible. As we all know MJ's dad wanted him to play baseball professionally and the only reason he returned to basketball is because of an MLB strike at the time, most believe if there wasn't a strike he never would have returned and would have gone on to the Majors.

Jordan didn't need steroids, he was always a freak athlete. At the time in the 1980's most players didn't even lift weights, Jordan (among the new crop of athletes globally) began to train and live 'professionally', Larry Bird for example would get drunk most weekends in the season.

Yes, indeed, you are SLIGHTLY BIASED.  You LOVE and worship MJ don't you??

Jordan was BANNED from the NBA for gambling, plain and simple!!

Read this with an open mind. 

https://books.google.com/books?id=4nQd6l2_lUYC&pg=PT449&lpg=PT449&dq=michael+jordan+and+gambling+%2B+sam+smith&source=bl&ots=PNdaBR039f&sig=TnCApoqUZwU9X-XjbXCi-eubEU8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXr6XBpODTAhWIwiYKHb4LCqw4ChDoAQguMAI#v=onepage&q=michael%20jordan%20and%20gambling%20%2B%20sam%20smith&f=false

Then, research and READ (once again with an OPEN MIND) Sam Smith's writing about MJ's first "retirement!!!"

Then get back with me!!

Smitty77

Maybe I'm easily influenced, but I do believe MJ voluntarily left basketball to try and play baseball simply because of the passing of his father. If the NBA wanted to set a precedent about steroids or gambling, then why not make the announcement so the rest of the league (and future players) knows the penalties that would be handed down? I don't buy this steroids rumor/story. And the ban because of gambling is laughable. So Jordan gets banned from the NBA, and decides to try to get into MLB, where 4-5 years earlier Paul Giamatti banned the beloved Pete Rose for life because of gambling? And lets not forget about the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal. So the league with the two biggest ties to sports gambling, which resulted in players receiving lifetime bans, decided to let Jordan try out for their sport? Don't you think the respective commissioners, David Stern and Bud Selig, would have discussed the reasoning for a so-called ban, especially if it was gambling?

[Ed Hollison]

I've wondered about Jordan, because a) he competed at a high level at an older age, b) towards the tail end of his career he got a lot bulkier, and c) the back-9 of his career coincided with an explosion of steroid use in baseball. But we'll likely never know. If Jordan used, he likely wasn't the only one from that era. Have you ever seen a picture of Corey Maggette? Karl Malone? Ben Wallace?

I'm more concerned about who's using it in basketball right now rather than in the past. Think of the astounding things happening all at the same time. Lebron is the easy target -- huge muscles, faster and stronger than anyone else on the court, playing with boundless energy in the playoffs after leading the league in minutes/game at age 32. But Russell Westbrook also just averaged a triple double for the first time in 45 years, playing in 81 games this year. There are other examples, but let's just say the past couple of seasons -- and especially this season -- of NBA basketball feels weird.

I actually wanted to start a running thread on PED use in basketball and sports. I realize some people don't care, but I do.

You can come up with other explanations for the explosion -- offenses have just evolved, we're seeing a unique era in terms of top-tier players, etc. -- but keep in mind that baseball had similar explanations before everyone looked back to the 90s as an era where players were obviously juicing.

[celticsclay]

Here is a realgm forum post and poll

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1231886#start_here

When you start trying to use realgm as a source you are on a really fringe topic. I have to agree with the other posters that this just comes off as a Lebron apologist trying to smear Jordan.

[kraidstar]

Not a shocker to think that a 90's-era athlete was using steroids. They were probably all doing it. People like money, fame, and winning.

By the mid aughts a lot of athletes looked like ogres in uniforms.

That was coincidentally the time that LBJ and Dwight Howard came into the league.

 

[Moranis]

Here is a realgm forum post and poll

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1231886#start_here

When you start trying to use realgm as a source you are on a really fringe topic. I have to agree with the other posters that this just comes off as a Lebron apologist trying to smear Jordan.

you seemed to think I just made something up out of the blue without it being out there.  It is out there. That was my only point and this thread sort of backfired on you as it appears a lot of posters on here don't think it is a crazy idea.

As I've co distantly said on this topic I give Jordan the benefit of the doubt just as do with James. Neither failed a test and there aren't any real solid connections or links to PED's just rumor, coincidence,etc.

[celticsclay]

Here is a realgm forum post and poll

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1231886#start_here

When you start trying to use realgm as a source you are on a really fringe topic. I have to agree with the other posters that this just comes off as a Lebron apologist trying to smear Jordan.

you seemed to think I just made something up out of the blue without it being out there.  It is out there. That was my only point and this thread sort of backfired on you as it appears a lot of posters on here don't think it is a crazy idea.

As I've co distantly said on this topic I give Jordan the benefit of the doubt just as do with James. Neither failed a test and there aren't any real solid connections or links to PED's just rumor, coincidence,etc.

it backfired on me? Lol. Nobody has shared a legitimate news site or article that has this viewpoint. I was genuinely curious if other people had seen some sort of interview with the trainer you mentioned, a fellow player or even a known media personality floating the idea. You came up with a real gm thread with most people calling the thread stupid. I agree with the other posters that without any other sort of news, you come off as having sour grapes on this topic with this allegation.

[Moranis]

Clay I picked one of many threads, articles, etc. on the topic but there aren't going to be thousands of them because hardly anyone used the internet when this was going on.

Here is a thread with a very detailed timeline of events which someone that believed MJ was using could easily use as evidence.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3547828

And again I only brought it up in the other thread after others started linking James unfounded to PED's without actually considering that one of the greatest competitors in sports history who was playing in the steroid era might have just maybe been using steroids.

[celticsclay]

Clay I picked one of many threads, articles, etc. on the topic but there aren't going to be thousands of them because hardly anyone used the internet when this was going on.

Here is a thread with a very detailed timeline of events which someone that believed MJ was using could easily use as evidence.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3547828

And again I only brought it up in the other thread after others started linking James unfounded to PED's without actually considering that one of the greatest competitors in sports history who was playing in the steroid era might have just maybe been using steroids.

I am not sure if you are missing what I am saying. I don't care if some loony on some obscure forum called "somethingawful" has made a post suggesting he did it. You can find people suggesting that Hilary runs a sex trafficking ring at a pizza place if you get deep into forums. Do you not understand this? You are just embarrassing yourself at this point.

[Moranis]

And yet more than half the people that posted in this thread think it was certainly possible.  I mean the NBA didnt even test for steroids until 1998, you know when Jordan again called it quits after winning 3 more titles. 

[celticsclay]

And yet more than half the people that posted in this thread think it was certainly possible.  I mean the NBA didnt even test for steroids until 1998, you know when Jordan again called it quits after winning 3 more titles.

Someone saying something is possible because a lot of people were doing it is not really an accusation. It is just acknowledging logic.

"I think it is definitely possible that person x did marijuana because a lot of people did that were teenagers during the 70's did" does not equal "I think person x did marijuana."

Do you understand that? 

Edit: Perhaps you will be right that 50% of people will think Jordan did steroids in his career, but I doubt it and have added a poll. We will look like a bunch of weird people in my opinion if 50% really believe this, but obviously just my opinion.

[ederson]

Clay I picked one of many threads, articles, etc. on the topic but there aren't going to be thousands of them because hardly anyone used the internet when this was going on.

Here is a thread with a very detailed timeline of events which someone that believed MJ was using could easily use as evidence.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3547828

And again I only brought it up in the other thread after others started linking James unfounded to PED's without actually considering that one of the greatest competitors in sports history who was playing in the steroid era might have just maybe been using steroids.

I am not sure if you are missing what I am saying. I don't care if some loony on some obscure forum called "somethingawful" has made a post suggesting he did it. You can find people suggesting that Hilary runs a sex trafficking ring at a pizza place if you get deep into forums. Do you not understand this? You are just embarrassing yourself at this point.

The accusations against James are not much better than this too....

[celticsclay]

Clay I picked one of many threads, articles, etc. on the topic but there aren't going to be thousands of them because hardly anyone used the internet when this was going on.

Here is a thread with a very detailed timeline of events which someone that believed MJ was using could easily use as evidence.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3547828

And again I only brought it up in the other thread after others started linking James unfounded to PED's without actually considering that one of the greatest competitors in sports history who was playing in the steroid era might have just maybe been using steroids.

I am not sure if you are missing what I am saying. I don't care if some loony on some obscure forum called "somethingawful" has made a post suggesting he did it. You can find people suggesting that Hilary runs a sex trafficking ring at a pizza place if you get deep into forums. Do you not understand this? You are just embarrassing yourself at this point.

The accusations against James are not much better than this too....

I don't think the accusations against James are particularly strong, but there is a bit of a difference between someone like Bill Simmons suggesting Lebron James does steroids compared to some forum called "something awful" or a poster starting a thread on realgm. Not saying Simmons is was saying this a serious accusation but it was at least a discussion point from a guy that ran a pretty respected website for a while and did have some league access.

[Celtics4ever]

Quote
Here is a realgm forum post and poll

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1231886#start_here

Just means LeBron used them in High School.   How many 18 years that do not play football are built like a greek god and where what 265?