Does the NBA Have a Steroid Problem Hiding in Plain Sight?

I have a hunch that baseball writers care more about steroids and PEDs than baseball fans. For one, any opportunity to moralize is an instant cure for writer's block. But more importantly, harping on offenders now makes writers who should have asked better questions several years ago feel like they're making up for lost time.

Will basketball writers someday be moved by feelings of guilt? Earlier this month, Tom Ziller made a compelling argument why NBA fans shouldn't worry about a steroid problem until there's actual proof such a problem exists. But how are fans supposed to see proof if those with access don't pursue it?

On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle published a puff piece by Janny Hu describing Stephen Jackson's new training regimen, which includes increased weightlifting supplemented with meal-replacement shakes.

The result? Jackson has reportedly gained "10 pounds of muscle" (weighing a career-high 235 pounds) while posting the best numbers of his career and maintaining the stamina to lead the league in minutes per game -- all the while being just weeks shy of his 31st birthday. Here are some excerpts from Hu's article:

"I don't know how he put on that much weight," said Kelenna Azubuike, the Warriors' resident bodybuilding champ. "But I guess it's all muscle."

[...] "This is the most I've lifted and the most I've been in the weight room my whole career, and it's starting to pay off," said Jackson, who usually plays at 222 or 223 pounds.

"I was thinking that I didn't need it, but as I see now, it's the most I've ever weighed in my life and I still have my speed, so it's definitely helped my game a lot."

[...] Warriors coach Don Nelson believes that Jackson's increased strength has also helped his stamina. Jackson has played an NBA-high 40.3 minutes a night while being asked to do everything on offense and usually defend the best opposing player - regardless of size or position.

[...] "He's like a monster now, there's no calming him down," Azubuike joked. "You can't really tell him anything now. He's got the muscle, that's what he says."

Until I read this article, I never would have suspected Jackson as a possible steroid user. Now that I've read it, I don't have any proof he's juicing but I certainly have more questions. (Other writers seem to agree.) Sudden weight gain? Check. Age-defying improvement? Check. Increased stamina? Check. Anecdotal evidence of a hot temper? Check and check.

I'm literally baffled how any journalist -- let alone one working for a paper that razed entire forests covering BALCO and Barry Bonds -- could raise so many red flags without actually asking more questions about how he bulked up so quickly so late in his career. Perhaps it's impolite to broach the subject for an innocuous notebook item, but then again, perhaps it's a topic deserving of greater space and scrutiny.

I don't know for a fact that the NBA has a steroid problem, but considering PEDs have infected nearly every other organized athletic endeavor both amateur and professional, I have no reason to think the league is immune. (I also find suggestions that basketball is an activity in which steroids don't actually help to be downright silly. Steroids help people run faster, jump higher and recover quicker -- something all basketball players must do.) Hindsight will always be 20/20, but we've learned enough from other sports not to be blind to the present.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-17-2009 @ 6:56AM

shalebrook said...

To Matt Watson-you are just an idiot looking for some attention by headlining your blog with the "'roid" thing while the body of the blog has nothing in it to confirm except the fact that a player lifting weights gained ten pounds of muscle. The bigger surprise would have been that he did not gain muscle mass while lifting weights.

Did you ever lift/work out-besided hefting your "poison pen" that is?

Come back to me when you have uncovered someething worthwhile reading. Otherwise, you are simply a granstanding would be leader of a "witch hunt".

Shame on you and AOL for alowing trash lift this to even be published. This piece has as much to do with solid investigative journalism as virginity has with a hooker.

3-17-2009 @ 7:45AM

uwreckme2 said...

I wouldn't doubt if most NBA Players are on steroids and TBH I really don't care. That goes the same for the rest of sports. And these federal investigations into these allegations are just a waste of taxpayers dollars. These players get paid millions of dollars to play to the best of ability and if steroids makes them perform better by all means take them. The pros far outweigh the cons when looking at it from a players perspective.

3-17-2009 @ 9:35AM

twicedead said...

31 is not 71. I'm in my thirties and take my workouts seriously and drink my shakes and I've put on more than 10 lbs easy minus drugs in the last year. You can do it too. This isn't a Bonds situation. Every watch the show the Supersize me guy had. He did it too past 40.

3-17-2009 @ 11:46AM

FifthStFreddie said...

I watched an old NBA game the other day, the Celts vs. Lakers, when Russell and Havlicek, Jerry West were playing. I was shocked at how skinny the guys were compared to athletes today. Now, weight lifting has become a big part of all sports: almost no one hit the weight room in those days, thinking it made you tight and muscle bound. What happened to baseball is awful: no one who owes his success to steroids and performing enhancing drugs should be allowed to take records from people like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. It is entirely possible that Jackson's work out regime, at age 31, is responsible for his increased stamina and size. But there is nothing wrong with raising questions, and checking to make sure the game is played on a level field. Tons of high school kids, even junior high school kids, and even girls, are turning to steroids. This is awful. Ask the questions, investigate, clean up sports, protect our kids. Why doesn't the NBA offer voluntary testing, and see how many people volunteer to prove the game is clean????

3-17-2009 @ 1:52PM

caninescreed said...

Didn't they say earlier in the season that Lebron James had put on 26lbs from last year? That would be so funny if the NBA's golden child, future MVP, turns out he was on steroids. HAha. Would serve them right.

3-17-2009 @ 4:59PM

firebrand said...

Correct me if I'm mistaken, please, but are you sincerely suggesting that the man who once ran into the stands during a basketball game and began randomly punching fans has now become MORE VOLATILE?