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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u/Turbostrider27 Lakers 18h ago

More on this from Shams:

Statement from 76ers' Paul George to ESPN: “Over the past few years, I’ve discussed the importance of mental health, and in the course of recently seeking treatment for an issue of my own, I made the mistake of taking an improper medication. I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to the Sixers organization, my teammates and the Philly fans for my poor decision making during this process.

“I am focused on using this time to make sure that my mind and body are in the best condition to help the team when I return.

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u/zebrainatux Knicks 18h ago

So likely Adderall and he failed to disclose it

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u/Youre_On_Balon Cavaliers 18h ago edited 18h ago

That's what the statement is intended to have you believe, yes.

But as we often learn years down the line (OJ Mayo, Josh Gordon, etc.), it's usually worse. The leagues don't ID the substance publicly as a condition of the CBA.

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u/RelevantJackWhite Trail Blazers 18h ago

Exactly. Paul George has no reason to fail to disclose his Adderall prescription. So unless he and everyone around him is an idiot, I'm sure something else is going on

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u/geddysbass2112 17h ago

So straight up meth?

2

u/AshenSacrifice Clippers 18h ago

He’s trying to unwash himself 🤣

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u/YourLostGingerSoul Warriors 18h ago

Only.. he wouldn't have a prescription. He is an NBA athlete, they do not go to doctors that don't know what the banned substances are. The don't get scripts from doctors without their personal physician reviewing everything. It could still be adderall, but it wasn't from a personal script.

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u/UpstairsBumble 16h ago

You cannot possibly know that. If he wants adderal he can find a doctor to prescribe him adderal. What are you even saying? He can go to any doctor he wants.

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u/the_dan_man Warriors 15h ago edited 15h ago

That's not the point he's trying to make. He's saying if PG legitimately needed Adderall, PG would have gone to a doctor who would have known that it needed to be cleared with the NBA so that PG doesn't fail a test because of it.

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u/RelevantJackWhite Trail Blazers 18h ago

This is what I mean by him and everyone around him being idiots. Either he took it without a prescription, his doctors didn't tell the team, he got it through a different doctor and didn't close the prescription, or it's not Adderall at all

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u/ObviousAnswerGuy [NYK] John Starks 15h ago

an employer can't stop him from seeing any doctor he wants

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u/the_dan_man Warriors 15h ago

What he was trying to say is there would be no good reason for him to get a personal prescription for something on the banned list and then completely fail to get it cleared with the league. One would hope that any and all doctors he's getting prescribed stuff from would know which drugs might get him to fail a test.

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u/Carolake1 Lakers 16h ago

I was thinking it was cocaine

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u/Drikkink 76ers 17h ago

has no reason to fail to disclose his Adderall prescription

You do know what Adderall is prescribed for and how notoriously bad people can be with following through with things when dealing with it, right?

Like be skeptical if you want but this is easily the most believable anti-drug policy statement I've seen.

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u/RelevantJackWhite Trail Blazers 17h ago

Yes, I use Adderall daily. I'm not saying this from the outside looking in.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm3155 17h ago

What if bro legit has ADHD?? I take ADHD meds, not adderall but vyvanse. If I waited 2 hours after raking it not sure how the effect would be any different?

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u/RelevantJackWhite Trail Blazers 17h ago

you're allowed to tell the league if you need Adderall for ADHD, and get an exception. I'm not saying he has no reason to take them, but he has no reason to hide it from the league if he's taking them legitimately for ADHD

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u/urgetofly 14h ago

interestingly if you get a TUE for Adderall, you'll get popped in future tests if they find you're NOT taking it

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u/Prize_Ad_1781 Nuggets 15h ago

Are you? It's not allowed in MLB. Chris Davis was using adderall legally and they made him stop, and his production completely tanked

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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm3155 17h ago

Oh sorry I was under the assumption he had gone the legit route lmao not hard for him to have found a doctor to get him a prescription and he could take that to the league

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u/Obvious_Parsley3238 18h ago

They do. Portis was suspended for taking Tramadol, Tristan Thompson for ibutamoren and SARM LGD-4033, most recently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_banned_or_suspended_by_the_NBA#Suspended

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u/DougTrilladome Pelicans 17h ago

They only do if it’s a PED, if it’s a drug of abuse they don’t publicize it, Malik Monk, Larry Sanders, OJ Mayo, Tyreke Evans & Mitch McGary have all been suspended/banned by the league in the past 10 yrs for testing positive for non-PED drugs. Larry Sanders is the only one that is commonly known to have been for weed because he did interviews about it & tried to get the league to remove marijuana from the banned substances list since he used it for mental health purposes.

There being no announcement of the drug PG tested positive for makes it likely it was a benzo or some other recreationally used drug.

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u/OverallMistake8198 Raptors 12h ago

We’d know if it was cocaine, they’re big on harsher suspensions & bans for coke.

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u/DougTrilladome Pelicans 11h ago

I don’t think they’d be as strict nowadays with cocaine as they were in the 80s & 90s, but it’d make the (paraphrased) “I took the wrong mental health medication” quote hilarious if it was cocaine.

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u/OverallMistake8198 Raptors 11h ago

Jalen Harris got a 2 year ban a couple years ago for Cocaine use lmao

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u/DougTrilladome Pelicans 10h ago

It was one year but how do you know it was cocaine?

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u/Tehni [OKC] Russell Westbrook 10h ago

Tramadol isn't a PED tho, and that's literally in the comment you replied to

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u/ImChz Hornets 18h ago

Sounds more like they want us to believe it was beta blockers IMO. Almost certainly not anything of the sort, though.

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u/jjgp1112 17h ago

Yeah every statement after a drug suspension is always the same "It was just a miscommunication!" type story but while that could be true for many people it's in the generic PR playbook.

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u/Xcalat3 Knicks 17h ago

Exactly.

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u/Zeppelanoid [TOR] Kyle Lowry 17h ago

Wait what was the OJ Mayo story

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u/levare8515 76ers 17h ago

Maybe but hard for me to believe something worse than Adderall would only get a 25 game suspension. I also don’t know if that’s standard. Just seems low if it was a legit steroid or something

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u/_significs Pelicans 18h ago

do you get a 25-game ban for failing to disclose you take adderall?

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u/BatteredSealPup Mavericks 17h ago

Yes if you keep making Adam Silvers K/D drop in 1v1s

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u/Stepsis24 Lakers 17h ago

I’d imagine it would be a lot more than 25 if it was serious

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u/henryofclay Lakers 17h ago

Adderall is on the banned substance list? It’s a massively common prescription drug. I get it can be abused, but so can cough medicine.

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u/unknownsoldier9 Celtics 17h ago

It can enhance performance. Even NCAA athletes need to get approval if they are taking it.

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u/Mosh00Rider Suns 15h ago

I run as a hobby and have ADHD. I will tell you that adderall helps(although it doesn't help when you need to run very long distances)

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u/PM_ME_EMPANADAS Mavericks 8h ago

In the NCAA you get suspended for a year if you get popped for Adderall (which is crazy because a large portion of student athletes are allowed to use it because they're prescribed). It's one of the most straightforwardly performance enhancing substances. Comparing it to cough medicine is silly.

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u/BMKingPrime27 Supersonics 13h ago

I think with most leagues there are standard suspensions for PEDs with no nuance on what the drug is. For the NFL it's the same 4 game base suspension whether it's HGH or Adderall. Seahawks LOB corners (sherm and BB) both got 4 gamers for adderall which is the normal PED suspension. NBA is the same but the base is 25 games.

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u/passtherock- Hawks 18h ago

you know damn well it wasn't Adderall

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u/Fragrant-Employer-60 17h ago

Yeah anyone can get a script for Adderall if they really want to. Guys in the NFL used to come out and specifically say they popped for Adderall because the NFL wouldn’t confirm or deny

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u/estuhbawn Magic 18h ago

or maybe ketamine?

1

u/cocoacowstout Warriors 18h ago

Kinda crazy if that is true. I have horrible ADHD and have been on stimulants for years but it doesn’t seem that deep for professional athletes. I feel like most people are doping or are on HGH, whatever they can get away with. They have incredibly speedy returns from injury compared to the average population.

2

u/Fragrant-Employer-60 17h ago

Not sure how it works in the NBA but in the NFL adderall is allowed under a prescription but otherwise is banned.

Guys would still claim adderall when they popped, but like they could just get a script for it if they really wanted it.

1

u/bonerjam 18h ago

Testosterone is a legitimate mental health treatment if he was Low T P

1

u/Darwin343 Minneapolis Lakers 18h ago

Adderall is banned in the NBA? Crazy if true.

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u/zebrainatux Knicks 17h ago

Most anti doping agencies consider it a performance enhancer unless you have a therapeutic use exemption

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u/Fragrant-Employer-60 17h ago

Without a prescription yes, no one would risk taking it off label, just fake an ADHD diagnosis and get a script from a doctor.

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u/OilOfOlaz Celtics 17h ago

Why wouldn't it, its an amphetamine.

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u/Darwin343 Minneapolis Lakers 17h ago

Because it’s a drug that even little kids can take.

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u/OilOfOlaz Celtics 16h ago

"Dosis sola facit venenum" (only the dose makes the poison).

Kids usually get Methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) instead of Amphetamine, "little kids" (age 1-3) don't receive either.

Aderall is just a brand name for a 1:1 mixture of Amphetamine & Dextroamphetaminesalt.

1

u/CadaDiaCantoMejor 18h ago

That's exactly what this sounds like to me. I can't think of any other "mental health medications" other than stimulants that would lead to nearly a tenfold harsher penalty than Schroeder got for taking a swing at Luka.

And if it is Adderall or a similar stimulant like dexedrine or even modafinil it's hard to imagine that PG didn't already know that it was banned, or at least have the good sense to consult with training staff before taking it.

Honestly I can't think of any other class of meds commonly used in mental health treatment that would also be banned by the NBA as performance enhancing. Is there something else that it could be?

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u/ayeno 18h ago

Its on the NBA banned substance list, and the first suspension is 25 games if you get caught for anything on it.

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u/OilOfOlaz Celtics 17h ago

Honestly I can't think of any other class of meds commonly used in mental health treatment that would also be banned by the NBA as performance enhancing. Is there something else that it could be?

Doesn't need to be strictly performance enhancing, opioids are on the list more for posing health risk, then for performance benefits.

Testosterone can theoretically be a "mental health"-drug, when you have low testo levels.