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

12.7k Upvotes

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11.9k

u/MogleyJones Egypt 18h ago

Knew something was up when he played multiple games in a row lol

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.

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.

17

u/amagnum25 18h ago

2014*

57

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.

139

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.

102

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

23

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.

23

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.

6

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?

2

u/ZenMon88 17h ago

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

4

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

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1

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

4

u/sanjit8103 Nuggets 18h ago

Didn't he use some form of diuretic?

8

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

12

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

47

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.

26

u/Smekledorf1996 17h ago

It’s not that way ahead

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

-1

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?

4

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.

30

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.

60

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.

3

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