NBA’s tough pot policy may need rethink
Charlotte’s Al Jefferson was suspended for five games on Wednesday for violating terms of the NBA and NBPA anti-drug program, the latest in a not-long list of players who have been given such bans.
The news was hardly earth-shattering but the suspension — and it is relatively severe — could be another step to opening discussions between the league and its players association.
While the specifics of Jefferson’s transgression were not made public because of confidentiality agreements, well-respected Charlotte Observer writer Rick Bonnell, citing sources, said marijuana was at the heart of the matter.
Will it be in future cases involving NBA players?
The issue of marijuana use — and any penalties for it — is certain to be part of any re-opening of the league-union anti-drug program or the more expansive collective bargaining agreement when negotiations begin.
The societal move away from significant penalties for using it are welldocumented; it is a legal substance in two states (Colorado and Oregon) where the league has teams, it is decriminalized in other jurisdictions, and the use of it for medicinal and pain-relief is constantly growing.
People with intimate knowledge of the NBA-NBPA bargaining process say that each side agrees it is not seen as a performance-enhancing substance and that there could be some traction for a move to lighten penalties for its use in the future.
But it will not be a slam dunk to change the rules or penalties.
The public perception of marijuana, quite aside from how its use is regarded among rich, young athletes, is something that will have to be taken into consideration, as will the give-and-take of collective bargaining.
It’s not going to be at the top of the discussion list when the sides are divvying up multi-billions of dollars in revenue but it is a topic that merits consideration given the changes in how the drug is perceived in the United States and Canada.
A five-game suspension is harsh — players get less than that for some minor physical altercations during games — so perhaps easing the penalty would make the most sense.
All that said, in this case — and with other players caught in the same testing procedures before it — Jefferson needs to be held accountable under the current rules and he has no one to blame but himself.
He would have known about a first positive test that would have landed him in the league’s drug counselling program and he certainly would have noticed the $25,000 fine that comes with a second positive test.
Obviously, neither of those two penalties were anything close to a deterrent; he got caught a third time knowing full well what the repercus- sions were.
He didn’t do anything by accident and he has to pay the price. But is it time to change the price?
A mega-mix
The Eastern Conference is more than holding its own against the West this year, it can no longer facetiously be referred to as the Leastern Conference. And it’s not so bad on its own either. Going into Thursday night play, there were only three games separating first place from 10th place and there’s nothing to suggest it’s going to change between now and the end of the regular season. How fluid is it? The Raptors were in sixth place at 7 p.m. Wednesday night and when they completed their win over the Spurs about three hours later, they had jumped all the way up to third.
Above the fray
Carmelo Anthony was getting all over referees — and other NBAers — on the issue of flopping this week. Anecdotally, it’s not the scourge it once was but the Knicks forward is certain it’s still a problem, especially when it comes to his altruistic self. “Nowadays guys know how to flop, get hit and put their head back. I don’t know how to flop. I won’t even look right trying to do that. I won’t even feel right trying it,” he told reporters. “A lot of times I get hit and I still continue to get to my spots just because I’m big and strong. A lot of guys get hit and they stop. I’m not saying they’re flopping, but they’re lighter than me. I can take a lot more physicality.”
Resigned to reality
Sportsnet’s Michael Grange was asking San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich about the proliferation of the three-point shot in today’s NBA and how teams are going to have to embrace it to some degree to be able to compete.
Popovich is no fan, but he’s a realist. “I don’t think it’s basketball,” he said. “I think it’s kind of like a circus sort of thing. Why don’t we have a five-point shot, a seven-point shot? You know, where does it stop? But that’s just me, that’s just old-school. To a certain degree, you better embrace it or you’re going to lose . . . And nobody does it better than Golden State and you know where they’re at.”
Change for the best
A loss to end a five-game road trip notwithstanding, the Orlando Magic are having a bit of a resurgence in large part due to a lineup shift. Victor Oladipo may not like the fact he was dumped from the starting lineup in favour of Tobias Harris but there’s no doubting the impact on him as well as his team. He’s averaging about five more points as a backup, shooting substantially better from the threepoint line and the field and the Magic have gone 5-2 since the switch was made.
Father(s) time
A Timberwolves-Lakers game hasn’t had relevance since it was Kevin Garnett-Latrell Sprewell-Sam Cassell against Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal eons ago for the Western Conference championship, really. But this year, the meetings — the second of three happened Wednesday night — are intriguing for one historical reason. According to ESPN stats, they mark the first time in NBA history that two players with 20-plus years of service (Bryant and Garnett) have played against each other. So there’s that to give meaningless games a bit of meaning.
Scheduling quirk
The NBA has taken measures to ease some of the scheduling issues that have cropped up over the years, things like cutting back on the slog of four games in five nights and opening up Thursdays to more than two TNT games. The Chicago Bulls have been beneficiaries early, the Tribune noted that when the Bulls played Boston on Wednesday and the Clippers on Thursday it was their first back-to-back since Days 1 and 2 of the season back on Oct. 27-28. A point of reference: Toronto’s had only three in that time period.
New man, what duties?
When Jerry Colangelo arrived as the great basketball overseer in Philadelphia earlier this week — his official title is chairman of basketball operations and adviser to the managing general partner — it was seen as a reputation-saving move by the Sixers. While general manager Sam Hinkie is still nominally in charge, the well-respected Colangelo will surely be a go-between with agents and free agents as the Sixers try to continue a never-ending rebuild. Colangelo’s reputation was made when he took over as the managing director of USA Basketball’s senior men’s team and he has friends and supporters in high places.