NBA return: League to test for performance-enhancing substance but not recreational drugs

The NBA has been suspended since March when Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert first tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, NBA chief Adam Silver had stopped all league matches and training activities as the United States emerged as one of the epicentres of the coronavirus pandemic. The US has registered more than two million coronavirus cases in the last couple of months and has a death toll of 113,000 as of June 9, 2020. Despite the numbers, the NBA is gearing up for the league to return next month as teams began training while following government guidelines. Ahead of next month's restart, the NBA revealed its policy regarding testing players for performance-enhancing drugs and other recreational drugs.

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NBA testing

League officials to test for performance-enhancing drugs but not recreational drugs

As per reports from The Athletic, league officials will only be testing league players for performance-enhancing drugs upon the restart. NBA testing will not involve any procedures to test for recreational drugs such as marijuana. When the season was initially suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier in March, the NBA and NBPA agreed not to conduct any form of testing during the enforced lockdown. Ideally, NBA players would be required to undergo four random drug tests during a season and two in the offseason. 

A positive test for any sort of performance-enhancing drug results in a 25-game suspension for a first-time offender, which would keep the player out of the remaining games this season. As per NBA regulations, a second violation leads to a 55-game suspension while a third positive test results in a minimum of a two-year ban. John Collins (Atlanta Hawks), Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns), and Wilson Chandler were all handed 25-game bans ahead of the start of the 2019-20 season after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in the offseason. Meanwhile, the NBA 22 team playoff league is set to resume in July in Orlando with all teams slated to play at least eight games after a four-month hiatus. 

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