NBA PLAYERS BETRAYED THEMSELVES

This week the Giants' catcher Benito Santiago was humiliated in the media
after a Puerto Rican customs official detected marijuana (2 oz) in a
package addressed to him. Last month Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace
of the Portland Trailblazers were busted for possession as they drove home
from Seattle after a game. Hardly a week goes by without a story linking
some superb athlete to the supposedly debilitating weed.

The professional basketball players 9some of whom have enduring loyalties
to brothers back on the streets9 missed an opportunity to defend their drug
of choice when the collective bargaining agreement was renegotiated in
1999. Under the old contract, NBA rookies could be tested randomly for
cocaine and heroin; veterans could be tested only if there was reasonable
suspicion they were using. There was no provision forbidding marijuana
use, and at the time, according to Selena Roberts of the New York Times,
about two-thirds of the players smoked pot as a post-game analgesic and
relaxant. Among those who'd been exposed were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the
leading scorer in NBA history (caught with six grams while trying to clear
customs at the Toronto airport); Robert Parrish, then the oldest player in
the league (and one of the best over the course of his career); Allan
Iverson; Marcus Canby; Isaiah Rider' In August '98 Chris Webber was caught
with less than half an ounce in his luggage while passing through the
airport in San Juan (costing him his deal with Fila).

When contract negotiations began in the Spring of '99, Players Association
President Billy Hunter was surprised by the force with which league
officials pushed for marijuana testing. Instead of insisting that frequent
marijuana use need not be debilitating 9Jabbar and Parrish are living
proof, and that the players had rights to health, happiness, privacy, etc.9
Hunter and player rep Patrick Ewing yielded to Commissioner David Stern's
lawyers. They agreed that all players 9and coaches and courtside personnel9
would submit to peeing in the cup. Hunter told TV reporter Armen Keteyian
'We traded it off for something more important. Right now, I don't quite
remember what' We did what we had to do to help enhance the image of our
players. The appearance was that many of them engaged in the use of
marijuana. The NBA had been pleading or crying for an expanded drug
program for years, so we took the high road and acquiesced.'

According to the agreement, rookies could be tested for mj at any time, but
no more than once during training camp and three times during the season.
Veterans faced random testing once during the season. First time offenders
would have to undergo counseling. Second-time offenders would be fined
$15,000. Subsequent violations would result in five-game suspensions.

NBA spokesman Brian MacIntyre crowed at the time, "Kids look up to us.
This is the right thing to do." Poor Patrick Ewing said, 'The press asked
for it, the commissioner asked for it, we used it during the bargaining
session to get something we wanted. We gave it up, that's it. No sense
crying about it.'

But there's an ongoing cost to the players 9in addition to the periodic
humiliations9 in that their individual bargaining power is eroded by
marijuana 'offenses.' Take, for example, the L.A. Clippers great small
forward Lamar Odom, who has tested positive twice now, and had to serve a
five-game suspension. When next he negotiates a contract, the owners will
say they're doing him a favor allowing him to remain in the league, given
his terrible tendency to sin, and will save themselves millions.

And the pressure to test more often and more rigorously will increase if
word ever gets out that marijuana is a performance enhancer. Recall that
Canadian Ross Rebagliati won the Olympic snowboarding championship in
Nagano, Japan, then had his medal revoked, then was reinstated as champion
when the IOCC concluded that, given its adverse effects on motor
coordination, marijuana couldn't possibly have helped Rebagliati. The
truth is, marijuana can make you looser, which is why many snowboarders
(and hoopsters) don't consider it a no-no. Maybe it costs you your edge,
but that's not always a bad thing.