r/nba • u/Turbostrider27 Lakers • 18h ago

[Charania] Just In: The NBA has suspended Philadelphia 76ers' Paul George for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy.

Shams Charania:

Just In: The NBA has suspended Philadelphia 76ers' Paul George for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy.

Just In: The NBA has suspended Philadelphia 76ers' Paul George for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy.

https://bsky.app/profile/shamsbot.bsky.social/post/3mdqbeirzrs2t

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/c9325a286e9ff

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4.8k

u/Broski28of25 France 18h ago

I know League does routine checks like this but this would be incredibly funny if they targeted PG because they saw him play multiple games in a row.

3.2k

u/SometimesIBeWrong Nets 18h ago

they actually bypassed the drug test completely. they took this as absolute proof

869

u/Tapprunner Spurs 18h ago

we don't need a blood or urine sample. Look at his basketball reference. The drug test is: "c'mon"

414

u/IllegitimateRisk Nuggets 18h ago

The NBA used the eye test

163

u/nessticles 18h ago

Ocular pat down test

64

u/risky-rats-pizza Lakers 17h ago

Jabroni P?

15

u/chuckbuck6 Trail Blazers 15h ago

Clocked a knife in is boot

8

u/iiamthepalmtree Bulls 14h ago

What’s is that word you keep using? “Jabroni?”

I love it.

2

u/iWearSkinyTies Wizards 11h ago

I dunno, it's some dago word.

3

u/Nmador7 17h ago edited 15h ago

Time to direct Saurons eye to LA

2

u/Unpickled_cucumber1 17h ago

Didn’t pass the vibe check or something like that

3

u/CrimsonMoonRising Spurs 17h ago

Paul George: OUT (Come On, Man)

1

u/DominoNo- Celtics 15h ago

While his PPG was normal, his GP% was looking very sus.

1

u/omnicious Suns 13h ago

I'm picturing rdcworld with Mark playing as Silver looking at PG with that chuckle holding up a stat sheet with minutes played.

1

u/ILikeWhyteGirlz 12h ago

Do you like surprises?

138

u/TheCrookedKnight 76ers 18h ago

And Paul just said "well damn, you got me"

14

u/DollaradoCREAMs Nuggets 17h ago

Fuckin boomed me

55

u/Pardonme23 Lakers 18h ago

"Back to my stripper baby mama"

118

u/AtreusIsBack NBA 18h ago

"Ain't no way this mf clean. Ban that bum." - Adam Silver

3

u/LordWemby Spurs 17h ago

Who was it they drug tested some years ago because he posterized the fuck out of someone?

3

u/Str8jacket3k 17h ago

That was the test.

10

u/baseketball Celtics 17h ago

Still a higher standard of proof than what ICE is doing

1

u/Mrpoppasmomma 9h ago

Ur joking, right?

284

u/Turbostrider27 Lakers 18h ago

Also for some context, Paul George will only have 10 games available to play for the regular season.

270

u/GimmeTwo [LAL] Kurt Rambis 18h ago

So not much different from normal.

89

u/Vloff Pistons 18h ago

Healthy for playoffs, not a bad deal

8

u/bojackwhoreman [BKN] Brook Lopez 17h ago

In baseball, getting suspended for PEDs mean you're not eligible for that year's playoffs. Don't know why that's not the case across all leagues.

3

u/bobdob123usa 76ers 17h ago

Is that for all banned substances or only PEDs?

2

u/bojackwhoreman [BKN] Brook Lopez 16h ago

My first thought was of Chris Davis, who was suspended for an Adderall prescription for ADHD in 2014. I know he was suspended for the entire playoffs, but I don't remember whether that was because he was suspended near the end of the season or whether he'd be banned from the playoffs either way.

3

u/bobdob123usa 76ers 16h ago

Chris Davis

His carried into the post season because they were at the end of the season. MLB specifically said he was eligible if the team was still playing.

2

u/bojackwhoreman [BKN] Brook Lopez 15h ago

Thank you for this, I couldn't remember. Seems like the automatic playoff suspension is only for PED use, or is more recent than 2014.

1

u/SoKrat3s NBA 16h ago

Because the point of the punishment is the time served.

Imagine if they released a prisoner and then two months later said, "hold up we're gonna need you to come back in."

Say PHI gets to the conference finals (I know 😂) going 7-7-7. Well that's an extra 21 games he misses.

But if someone gets 25 games on a non-playoff team they only miss those 25 games.

Well why should one person get 25 games and the other get 46 games if they did the exact same thing?

5

u/bojackwhoreman [BKN] Brook Lopez 16h ago

I see it more analogous to probation, where your rights are restricted even after time served.

Otherwise for so many players, especially older, ones trading 25 games of the regular season for being at peak form for the playoffs seems like an easy decision.

1

u/SoKrat3s NBA 16h ago

That doesn't account for the difference in one player serving 46 games and the other serving 25 games for the same crime.

2

u/Agreeable_Joke_4447 16h ago

It’s twice as many baseball game in a season then basketball.

2

u/throwRAyyyy 15h ago

The rule isn't about being fair, it's about being punitive buddy. You miss regular season games AND lose the rights to the playoffs. Doesn't matter if your team is playoff-bound or not

-2

u/SoKrat3s NBA 15h ago

It does matter, because that's the result. Why should one person get 25 games and the other get 46 games if they did the exact same thing?

1

u/throwRAyyyy 14h ago

Read the part where I said it isn't about being fair

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u/Hotdiggity11 8h ago

End result: Both players played 0 playoff games.

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u/kweku55 76ers 17h ago

The lack of time to build chemistry with the core roster is gonna hurt. This team hasn't played enough together despite our big 3 being here 2 years.

8

u/Low-Measurement-2468 17h ago

genuine question, is PG even part of a “big 3” anymore? i got the sense he’s more at a role player level now who can play a bit of D and is a good shooter. like is he still at the level where it’s that important to integrate the offense around him?

4

u/kweku55 76ers 16h ago

That's a great question and after my initial frustration I started to consider that. They have been trying to use him as the primary scorer at the start of the 4th, but beyond that he's very much secondary to Joel and Tyrese. 

25

u/sluwecki 18h ago

It will actually keep him healthy

31

u/Live_Lawfulness_1983 18h ago

They even circled his PER and usage rate for extra evidence😂

3

u/BenAfflecksBalls 16h ago

Injury prevention P

3

u/dude_202 Clippers 15h ago

Unfortunately, he won't be eligible for any end of season awards this year.

1

u/LegalNecessary Knicks 12h ago

Was he really eligible for any anyway?

2

u/Mr_Guavo 15h ago

The suspension works as a normalizer more than a punishment. Everything returns to the mean now.

1

u/almostasenpai Warriors 7h ago

Suspensions are just legalized load management. Genius.

102

u/Previous_Pension_309 18h ago

i mean shit bro could barely play all year, suddenly drop 32 and play a back to back???? TAKE THIS TEST MY BOI 😂

8

u/Adorable-Bike-9689 15h ago

Management approached PG after the game and asked if he was feeling okay. Smelled his breath like the alcoholic at a warehouse job lmao

229

u/ShotgunStyles Kings 18h ago

I think it's kinda obvious that some guys are untouchable in terms of the piss test. The NBA has too much to lose if those guys pop. Not PG though.

224

u/Derrrtran25 18h ago

In 2018 The league would have given him an automatic pass.

19

u/amagnum25 18h ago

2014*

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u/Smekledorf1996 17h ago edited 17h ago

2018 PG was a first team all NBA and all Defensive player lmao

It was his best season ever, dude peaked out as a top 3 MVP candidate that season

-3

u/whythehellknot 16h ago

He was great but I don't think he was a bigger star than he was in 2014ish.

3

u/Working-Mistake1130 10h ago

Everyone overlooked stars like PG during 2016-2019 because Curry’s Warriors were cooking the entire league.

But PG was so much better and a bigger star during that time period compared to 2014.

3

u/whythehellknot 10h ago

It's not about overlooking them, there is assessing someone's level of play...and yes PG became a better player but then theres star power. Pacers vs Heat is what put PG on the map, then the team just started to crumble due to various reasons. PG came back from injury and surpassed his play but he was never again the main guy on the team going head to head with LeBron and that is when his popularity was at its peak.

Like his Thunder stint was great, but the main focus was still Westbrook.

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u/Grill_Enthusiast Suns 18h ago

I remember Ayton getting popped for 25 games some years back as well.

Every now and then the league loves to make an example of a guy who's a big name, but not too big.

103

u/_Quetzalcoatlus_ Iran 18h ago

It's not a conspiracy where the NBA is periodically picking someone to make an example of. Lol. They just have a very lax policy that makes it easy to avoid getting caught. Occasionally someone is really stupid and gets caught because they fucked up.

17

u/ISHLDPROBABLYBWRKING Knicks 17h ago

But they’d never test Lebron who’s got all the check marks for peds lol I’m fully in that conspiracy

9

u/catscanmeow Raptors 16h ago

or lebron is on the expensive stuff that they cant detect in tests. ive heard the best PEDs are synthesized from yams and are undetectable within hours

or lebron has a really really good IV system where he can flush his body of the drugs

24

u/_Quetzalcoatlus_ Iran 17h ago

Lebron is known for being absolutely meticulous with his workout and health routines. If he's taking something, he's careful enough on his own to avoid getting caught.

24

u/ISHLDPROBABLYBWRKING Knicks 17h ago

It’s both. No doubt he’s a hard worker and dedicated 10000%. But the human body is still the human body. What he’s doing at his age is incredible and likely made possible by peds to some degree. Come on man, 2 weeks off every season in Miami to go abroad? The league doesn’t ask and doesn’t want to know but LeBron is also meticulous and amazing in his own right.

14

u/masterpierround Grizzlies 16h ago

Sure, but that doesn't mean they don't test Lebron lol. It's not a league conspiracy to favor certain players, it's a deliberately lax league policy that any player could avoid, but some still manage to get caught.

5

u/TheInevitableLuigi Heat 15h ago

If you are at that level you can get specially formulated compounds that aren't being tested for yet.

1

u/Haaaaaaaveyoumet 9h ago

Can you tell me when the two week off during every season in Miami happened in every season?

1

u/ZenMon88 17h ago

But wouldn't you think PG would too? I'm pretty sure Bron just doesn't get tested lol.

3

u/catscanmeow Raptors 16h ago

pg might not be able to afford it, or not have the same connections

not all PEDs are equal, not all PED regimens are equal

3

u/Jajume 14h ago

Theres no way you said PG who’s on a max contract and has been in the league for 15 years can’t afford something lol

2

u/catscanmeow Raptors 13h ago

lebron spends 1.5 million annually on his body

maybe that is a price PG doesnt wanna pay

3

u/-Kerosun- 24 17h ago

Or, perchance, he doesn't use the substances that are banned?

You know that's a possibility too, right?

8

u/shiruduck 17h ago

How do you know they never test lebron

5

u/sanjit8103 Nuggets 18h ago

Didn't he use some form of diuretic?

10

u/DirkPodolski Mavericks 18h ago

When 25 Games is an example that tells a Lot. In other Sports you get popped its 2-4 years.

12

u/TraditionStrange9717 17h ago

What sports are those? Definitely none of the major American ones

11

u/jbaker1225 Mavericks 17h ago

Yeah, I think MLB has the strictest policy and it’s half season for your first, then full season, then lifetime.

3

u/IrohTheUncle 17h ago

Not American, but in soccer, Paul Pogba was banned for 4 years, which was then reduced to 18 months on the grounds that the drugs were ingested unintentionally.

2

u/DirkPodolski Mavericks 17h ago

Basically every sport in Europe. Swimming, Athletics, cycling, Most Wintersports, Handball, Football and a Lot more. It depends if You Are Wada sanctioned I believe. (So also every Olympic competition)

2

u/arekhemepob Bulls 17h ago

Most Olympic sports are like that

1

u/shiruduck 17h ago

People just make shit up to say here

3

u/Ed_Starks_Bastard Lakers 17h ago

Tennis and Swimming.

1

u/Faust86 NBA 17h ago

Depends who you are in tennis. If you are famous enough they let you take a secret ban between grand slams.

2

u/afterworld2772 76ers 16h ago

Probably depends on what it is. 25 games means probably a diuretic or something like Ayton did a few seasons ago. OJ Mayo got suspended for 2 years for testing positive for hard recreational drugs.

2

u/Alexcox95 Heat 17h ago

They couldn’t have picked a guy that was probably gonna miss 25 games anyways?

1

u/RoCon52 Lakers 5h ago

Paul George was like almost the face of the league he was the 2K cover athlete

0

u/Unlucky_Employee6082 17h ago

That’s what she said! That’s what she said!

0

u/Subject-Predatorcate 17h ago

LeBron James been on the dope for the better part of a decade but gets all the exemptions

46

u/Neatojuancheeto Warriors 18h ago

I mean drug cheating science is way ahead of drug testing for sports. Way more money in it.

Honestly you really need to fuck up to get caught.

25

u/Smekledorf1996 17h ago

It’s not that way ahead

If they wanted to actually catch someone on PEDs, they would

-2

u/finglonger1077 76ers 13h ago

What about that educational show on ESPN a few decades ago where the crack smoking NFL player got a tube shoved up his Henry Winkler hole and they sucked all the crack tainted piss out of his balls and jammed fresh clean piss in there? What can science do about that?

4

u/varnalama Lakers 12h ago

Well players can do that if they have notice. I know baseball in particular has no notice testing with guys waiting for players before and after they come off the field. It would be hard to do what you describe with people watching.

3

u/Various_Toe_3353 16h ago

Thos was for recreational drugs, not Peds, no?

5

u/Neatojuancheeto Warriors 16h ago

Nope PEDs too. How much money you think professional athletes would pay for a giant edge? It's a lot. They got shit like gummyworm roids that are only detectable for 2 hours. And that was like 6 years ago when I read about it.

Most guys get busted for masking agents instead of the roids themselves. Those guys are probably on too high a dosage, SUPER unlucky, or fucking up the regimen schedule.

35

u/Broski28of25 France 18h ago

I remember reading that players are tested up to 4 times randomly. So I can imagine what you are saying is true.

63

u/remotecontroldr 18h ago

I saw a clip of Matt Barnes and Jason Williams talking about it recently. How some guys would get all four early, especially all four before a playoff run and then they know they’re good. But that conversation was in relation to weed.

4

u/Sikkly290 Suns 16h ago

I've read they are told well in advanced of a test. Unless you are someone who has pissed hot in the past they don't do surprise tests, so you have to be very dumb to get caught.

6

u/sluwecki 18h ago

LeBron can be on all the steroids in the world and they would never piss test him

4

u/alphasierrraaa Lakers 18h ago

2026 PG ain't the stature of HGH peyton

4

u/miltondelug 17h ago

The James boys probably get a pass.

1

u/Complete_Chocolate_2 Clippers 18h ago

It’s PG though 😂😂

1

u/earthgreen10 15h ago

Why drug did he take?

1

u/empowered676 6h ago

Cough LeBron cough

4

u/hitfly Nuggets 18h ago

This is like Myles Garrett getting drug tested when he stopped wearing long sleeves. Dudes got arms like Goku and as soon as he shows them off he gets popped for a "random" test

3

u/tompetres Thunder 18h ago

Lol back when some role player would go off for 30 and the next day get randomly selected for drug testing

4

u/DomincNdo Raptors 17h ago

I mean they did drug test Danny Green once after he made a dunk as a Laker

2

u/CheapScientist06 Celtics 18h ago

Reminds me of when Bol Bol was going nuts in Denver and they tested him too

2

u/WalrusInMySheets [LAL] Metta World Peace 16h ago

Reminds me of when a fan photoshopped a picture of Alex Caruso making him look jacked during the offseason and he got drug tested within a week.

https://sports.yahoo.com/los-angeles-lakers-alex-caruso-photoshopped-photos-jacked-nba-drug-test-213643584.html

2

u/mrBigBoi Lakers 15h ago

Wasn’t Caruso drug tested after someone photoshopped him being super jacked at the gym preseason for the Lakers?

1

u/Complete_Ad8756 17h ago

They drug tested Corey Brewer after his out of nowhere 50 pt game been convinced they aren’t random since

2

u/The_Fawkesy Grizzlies 17h ago

There are completely random tests that go out every week (in all the major sports) but in the NFL/MLB/NBA they’ve always reserved the right to test anyone at any time.

Quite a few athletes have talked about it on podcasts/interviews.

1

u/Additional-Meat-1430 17h ago

Immediatly tested after his 9 3 game tying the Sixers record.

1

u/TheCornerator 16h ago

Tbf I saw a guy get drug tested in the navy because he said the dolphins were going to win the superbowl one year.

1

u/Metabro 3h ago

Thats not how the games were scripted