NBA stars will no longer be penalised for consuming marijuana after the league and players came to an agreement over the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, marijuana has been removed from the anti-drug testing programme, which began during the 2019/20 NBA season. The league and it's players reportedly came to an agreement in the early hours of Saturday morning over the new seven-year CBA deal, although it is still pending ratification.
The deal will begin this summer and is scheduled to last at least through the 2028/29 campaign. At that time, either the league or the Players Association can opt out, otherwise it will last through to the 2030 offseason.
The decision to remove marijuana from the banned substance list means the NBA follows in the footsteps of other leading sports leagues. During the 2021 offseason, the NFL agreed players will only be tested once per year and those that fail tests are subject to a fine rather than the previous punishment of a lengthy suspension. UFC also announced in 2021 that they would no longer punish fighters over positive marijuana tests.
The NBA is currently in it's third successive season where the league has suspended random testing for marijuana after it was first paused in the Covid bubble in Orlando. During an interview with David Letterman last year, Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant revealed he smoked marijuana when he was 22 years old, suggesting he used it to clear his mind during stressful moments.
“For me, it clears the distraction from your brain,” the 2014 MVP added. “It's like having a glass of wine.”
Among other details in the potential CBA agreement, players will need to appear in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for the top individual awards like the Most Valuable Player, while the in-season tournament is set to become reality. Another interesting new part of the agreement will be a second luxury tax level that will keep teams from using their midlevel exception to sign players when they are maxed out.
The two parties met in the middle as some teams wanted an ‘upper spending limit’ to cap what could be spent each season in order to level the playing field between those willing to pay hefty tax bills and those who aren’t. On Wednesday, Silver confirmed he was hopeful of getting a deal completed by the weekend.
The owners still have to vote on what the negotiators have agreed on, while the players will also get to have their say via vote to approve the deal too. After that is settled, the document will be written - the most recent CBA was around 600 pages in length, containing nearly 5,000 paragraphs and 200,000 words.
