MrBigShot wrote:He isn't saying that the NBA requires "more or less" skill than other sports, but you have to admit, enhancement drugs tend to have more of a direct effect on performance in other sports, such as baseball. I'm not baseball experts, but I know that steroids will generally help a guy get stronger/bigger which will result in harder hits, and more home runs.
No, I don't "have to admit." Based on what? Studies haven't even shown that steroids result in harder hit balls. All evidence is anecdotal. They tried to pin that on Bonds over and over and again after again it was all anecdotal, dude.
Using enhancement drugs in the NBA has less of a direct affect. Using a drug to aid in muscle growth wont necessarily help you make more shots if aren't skilled enough to shoot well or finish through contact.
In that regard, performance in the NBA is less reliant on them. I think the biggest thing it does is to help their endurance/recovery, which I don't mind. Players already use ice and acupuncture to recover after games anyway. I think allowing them players to play as well as possible during longer stretches is a good thing.
You're conveniently ignoring that the plague in MLB wasn't even steroids: it was (and probably still is) amphetamines. Amphetamines have been used in the sport since time immemorial. In the original SI expose with Ken Caminiti, he admitted way more players are on greenies than steroids. I forgot what he said but I believe it was something like 85-90 percent.
That's what the less enlightened folk in this thread aren't getting: it's more about the endurance and recovery aspects than the sheer size/muscle. It's always going to be more about that, because it's the rigorous schedule / lack of sleep that affects performance the most. Without bans, those abuses are going to be ABSURDLY prevalent. And after a certain point -- Malcolm Gladwell would call it the tipping point -- EVERYONE would be virtually forced to use something in order to remain competitive.