Legalization of marijuana has been a major debate in the country as more states are legalizing medical marijuana, and some going even further as to legalize recreational use. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted to using marijuana to deal with chronic back pain, and it has opened the conversation to the positive effect it could have on players. While on ESPN’s NBA Countdown this past Friday, Chauncey Billups said he wanted some of his former teammates to play while high on marijuana because it actually “helped them focus in on the gameplan.”
“I honestly played with players—I’m not going to name names, of course I’m not, I’m not that kind of dude—but I wanted them to actually smoke. They played better like that.
“They had big-time anxiety—a lot of things that can be affected—that it brought them down a little bit. Helped them focus in on the gameplan. I needed them to do that. I would rather them do that sometimes than drink.”
Tracy McGrady added that some NBA players continue to smoke marijuana during the season despite having to take four random drug tests during the year. He also said guys are drinking and killing people, but can’t smoke weed.
Both Billups and Jalen Rose noted that players are able to take addictive pain pills when marijuana could’ve been a better substitute.
source: SLAM
