Steroids in the NBA...how prevalent were they in the early 90s-early 10s?

[AussieCeltic]

You can tell when someone is juicing to add muscle and I don’t really see any NBA players with that physic. Guys like Malone and Dwight have always had big frames. Dwight in high school had really wide shoulders and was always going to bulk up.

Guys are 100% using for recovery though. The human body just can’t sustain the wear and tear of a NBA season for 10 - 12+ years and not break down. I mean, Lebron is the poster child for this. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a physical specimen regardless, but to still play the minutes and games he does with the miles on the body isn’t natural.

[sp6r=underrated]

I don't care at all about PEDs beyond PEDs that are known to cause significant long-term harm to the athletes. MLB's crusade against PED users is far worse than actually using these substances. And if they aren't super harmful no one should care.

So I'm supposed to beleive that in amateur athletics, the Olympics, where some 60% of athletes will ADMIT in an anonymous study they have used PEDs, where there is little money for most of these athletes to chase beyond endorsements, that in the NBA, with tens and hundreds of millions on the line for some players that they aren't using PEDs?

I would be shocked if the real answer was under 75%. I would expect its widely used for injury recovery and widely used early in careers, off-seasons its incredibly easy to hide. The fact that the NBA really doesn't test rigorously and doesn't chase it it hard and lets you know when your being tested way in advance, kind of makes it easy not to embarrass yourself and them.

The last thing the NBA wants is to be embarrassed so they have a token testing policy.

this is correct. I'd be floored if the % of players who use are have used PEDs was under 90%. And it isn't just guys with big muscles

[sp6r=underrated]

NBA has an HGH problem.

I don’t think the nba has a “problem” but there are def offenders… we’re in a weird era though, I don’t think people care as much as they did in previous decades.

I have a friend who played in the NFL for a while. He told me once, "I don't want to tell you who's using because it'll hurt you. Just assume everyone is using PEDs."

yup, as an example, I love Tim Duncan. I watched him clearly decline from 2009 to 2011 and have that decline basically end for another 4 yrs. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he went on a program (or new program)

And I love Duncan. Picked him just to avoid picking players you dislike

[Mickey8]

The players in the NBA in the 90's looked so jacked up, I think many of them were on steroids.

[CobraCommander]

As prevalent as Dwight's shoulders

You and I know why you and I know lol

[CobraCommander]

I don’t know why people care if NBA players do roids or any other performance enhancers -

it could keep them healthy and have them playing more games, I sure as heck don’t care.

Spoiler:

I wanted usain bolt to do roids once he was done to see if could go faster lol

[Michael Bradley]

The NBA has the smallest roster size (less spots for players) and the most guaranteed money (in terms of AAV) in all of the major US sports. I’d imagine PED use in the NBA is at least as much as baseball and football from a percentage standpoint.

[HomoSapien]

Speculation, but I have to look hard at Karl Malone as a PED user

Look at him in WCW. He was right there with Hulk Hogan and others in terms of muscle-mass

You might be right, but in Malone's defense he had a pretty legendary training regiment and was pretty ripped in college too:



Even today he's still in pretty fantastic shape for his age:

Why would he no longer be using steroids?

Not sure I understand the question, but why would he be using it as a retired 58-year-old that has little interest in the public spotlight?

[Capn'O]

You might be right, but in Malone's defense he had a pretty legendary training regiment and was pretty ripped in college too:



Even today he's still in pretty fantastic shape for his age:

Why would he no longer be using steroids?

Not sure I understand the question, but why would he be using it as a retired 58-year-old that has little interest in the public spotlight?

Huntin'.

[Michael Jackson]

You might be right, but in Malone's defense he had a pretty legendary training regiment and was pretty ripped in college too:



Even today he's still in pretty fantastic shape for his age:

Why would he no longer be using steroids?

Not sure I understand the question, but why would he be using it as a retired 58-year-old that has little interest in the public spotlight?

What he is saying is that if it makes him have more energy and recover feel younger why wouldn’t he? He Luke be doing it under dr supervision anyway. We are not talking Lyle Alzado risk i what someone like Ronnie Coleman did. Man people past 40 do HRT under Dr supervision.

[HomoSapien]

Why would he no longer be using steroids?

Not sure I understand the question, but why would he be using it as a retired 58-year-old that has little interest in the public spotlight?

What he is saying is that if it makes him have more energy and recover feel younger why wouldn’t he? He Luke be doing it under dr supervision anyway. We are not talking Lyle Alzado risk i what someone like Ronnie Coleman did. Man people past 40 do HRT under Dr supervision.

I'm not saying it's impossible that he hasn't taken steroids, but he was already pretty ripped by high school, and I doubt he was taking them then. It's not like he ever had a sudden body transformation, he just seems like a guy who genuinely is addicted to fitness.

[LAL1947]

I have a friend who played in the NFL for a while. He told me once, "I don't want to tell you who's using because it'll hurt you. Just assume everyone is using PEDs."

yup, as an example, I love Tim Duncan. I watched him clearly decline from 2009 to 2011 and have that decline basically end for another 4 yrs. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he went on a program (or new program)

And I love Duncan. Picked him just to avoid picking players you dislike

Well, it's a good point and I respect your objectivity in pointing it out.

[LAL1947]

Watch on YouTube

[NO-KG-AI]

You might be right, but in Malone's defense he had a pretty legendary training regiment and was pretty ripped in college too:



Even today he's still in pretty fantastic shape for his age:

Why would he no longer be using steroids?

Not sure I understand the question, but why would he be using it as a retired 58-year-old that has little interest in the public spotlight?

Why wouldn't you? Under Doctor supervision, it's basically a life changer and can make you look and feel much younger. Who wouldn't want to look and feel much better than their age, especially guys with extreme amounts of damage and wear and tear from sports and exercise?

I can't wait till I'm around 40 and can start TRT and get back to like I was 21. lol

[LAL1947]

Sometime in 2019, after Deandre Ayton, John Collins and Wilson Chandler were suspended... betting websites had these guys with the highest odds of being next in line to get suspended for PED usage:

Nikola Jokic +5000
Brook Lopez +5000
LeBron James +6000
Zion Williamson +6000
Andre Drummond +6000
Joel Embiid +6000

I'm not sure why Jokic and BroLo were on the list. Fully understand why Lebron is on there though... and wondering why Giannis isn't on there too.

(Obvious click-bait title, but it's an interesting watch)

Watch on YouTube

[dhsilv2]

You might be right, but in Malone's defense he had a pretty legendary training regiment and was pretty ripped in college too:



Even today he's still in pretty fantastic shape for his age:

Why would he no longer be using steroids?

Not sure I understand the question, but why would he be using it as a retired 58-year-old that has little interest in the public spotlight?

Because he's 58? The largest user base of steroids are men over 50 who want to be healthier. He's got the money and any doctor would gladly prescribe it at his age.

[Harry Garris]

NBA has an HGH problem.

No, the NBA has an injuries problem.

Way too many players get hurt and miss games and make the product worse since we as fans have to watch their backups who aren't as good. If HGH helps players recover and get back on the court faster - I fail to see why it's a bad thing.

[Castle Black]

*Dwyane Wade’s jaw has entered the chat*

[Optms]

Speculation, but I have to look hard at Karl Malone as a PED user

Look at him in WCW. He was right there with Hulk Hogan and others in terms of muscle-mass

You might be right, but in Malone's defense he had a pretty legendary training regiment and was pretty ripped in college too:



Even today he's still in pretty fantastic shape for his age:

Damn. That is impressive that he can keep his body fat low enough to have a lean stomach at an advanced age.

Verdict is out. No steroid use here. That is pure dedication along with God tier genetics.

[JonFromVA]

By his own admission he used HGH and EPO (red cell booster), so PEDs specific to recovery and endurance, rather than a muscle building steroid:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lance_Armstrong_doping_allegations#:~:text=He%20admitted%20that%20he%20used,France%20wins%2C%20Armstrong%20told%20Winfrey.

My assumption has always been that HGH use is rampant in the NBA. It's basically a miracle drug for basketball players in terms of training and recovery benefits and is difficult to test for.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/oct/11/lance-armstrong-drugs

Adriol was also taken, an oral form of testosterone.

About to say he was caught with and admitted to low does testosterone too. That pretty much forms the base of any 'cycle'.

I remembered when LeBron came out of high school with superior physicality… a friend of mine who was a high school basketball coach said to me that he must have used steroids… i think Kids on competitive high school level have already on something as long as it can give them an edge to make it pro… it was a no brainer for them, the pros are so much appealing than the cons

So you’d be so naive to think the NBA does not have a PED issue… it is just not a problem for them, the league does not care, very loose testing regimen… they benefit from the better performance… so in another sense, he likes it

As a kid with dreams of going pro, no doubt. It's basically a requirement to put you into that elite 1-5% to get recruited by a college. Even if you don't go pro... imagine not having any college debt to start off adult life.

Is caffeine a performance enhancing drug?

Technically yes, it is scientifically proven to enhance performance (especially in strength/weights). That being said, it's a permitted substance.

The NBA does too, but it's more subtle and if it's not clear to me whether it would even be successful - and that's whether a parent would ever procure and give HGH to a child to try to manufacture an NBA player because tall people have a higher chance of making it in basketball.

Here's a interesting article on Lionel Messi... who was given HGH as a kid to address his dwarfism. He went from 4'2" to 5'7".
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1492546-lionel-messi-and-hgh-the-truth-about-the-best-footballer-in-the-world

Considering the lengths parents will go for their kids in sports? The financially well off and super competitive ones, without a doubt.

HGH is of course an accepted treatment for children who lack it, whether forcing a child to grow at an accelerated rate would actually benefit them rather than just create future problems is unclear to me and I sure hope there are a lot fewer people willing to experiment on their children as there are willing to experiment on themselves - especially given it's a pretty heinous act and crime.

Lots of things are possible and many of them have probably been done at one point or another, but without evidence it's really unfair to assume someone has cheated.