Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 4:51 pm  |  82 responses

Rashard Lewis Suspended 10 Games

by Ryne Nelson

We’ve all quietly wondered about it. With it being so prevalent in other sports, of course. How, with the prominence of performance enhancing drugs in sports today, can the NBA keep its nose so clean?

Be sure, Rashard Lewis’ elevated testosterone levels will not mark doom for the NBA (at least Dwight Howard didn’t get busted… I kid!). It just serves as a reminder that drugs can aid NBA players as well. And it’s something to watch out for:

Orlando Magic All-Star Rashard Lewis will be suspended for the first 10 games of next season because he has tested positive for a testosterone-producing steroid, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

According to league sources, Lewis was taking nutritional supplements at the end of last season that unknowing to him contained a substance commonly known as DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) — a chemical compound made naturally in the body but also found in numerous over-the-counter supplements at nutritional stores. The substance is banned by most sports leagues, including the NBA.

The League released a statement saying this:

Rashard Lewis of the Orlando Magic has been suspended without pay for ten games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for an elevated testosterone level, it was announced today by the NBA.

We’re not saying other players in the L use performance enhancers, but some certainly could. Everyone hates the possibility of the asterisk, but it’s at least reassuring to know the NBA’s current drug testing system (four random tests, between training camp and the end of the postseason) can detect something other than the Holy Herb.

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  • http://www.lkz.ch Darksaber

    Jackie Moon: now that’s comedy, dude. great picture. Oh and i think you should reduce your steroid cycle dude, the hair growth is disturrrrrbing!

  • ENDS

    what he took isn’t a steroid but a supplement

  • Harrell

    Ha Ha Haaaa..thats why he was so clutch but he knew he was on somthin also LeBron and Dwight just big as hell

  • http://yahoo.com Logues

    i really hope this does not turn into the MLB where there is alot of ppl doin it, cause that would just ruin the sport. bball is by far my favorite sport, been watchin and playin since i was real little, and it would just be real depressing and disapointing to think about, esp since nba is already not even close to being as exciting to watch as it used to be, everyone walks up and down the court half the time

  • JoeMaMa

    AC Green was suspended ten sundays from his church for taking viagra.

  • http://www.sprint.com/pre dma

    Rafer Alston probably introduced him to something. Skip’s got some big biceps for a guy his size.

  • D12FSU

    his statement seemed really sincere, I just dont see sweet lew as a guy who would knowingly take the juice, i mean, c’mon, when i think huge jacked muscle heads, first player i think of is lewis….

  • Nelson

    If it’s called a “supplement” don’t use it, no matter what your coach or strength trainer says!!!
    ……………Your body doesn’t need supplements. That’s what foods are for. So when a player says that he took a supplement but didn’t know that there was a banned substance in it, that’s no excuse. LOL……………..nkscouting@gmail.com

  • RedRum

    come on… steroids are used in the NBA as much as any sport. Every off-season you hear players saying that they put 10-15 pounds of muscle over a couple of months… Anyone who has done some weight-lifting knows that this is impossible to do in such a little time without adding as much fat. Also, the NBA anti-doping testing program is a joke. Remember, the 1992 Dream Team was entered only after the IOC signed an agreement with the NBA that the players will not undergo the same vigorous testing as other Olympic athletes…

  • RedRum

    oh, steroids do not have to be anabolic, which means that they increase muscle size. Steroids are very potent anti-inflammatory drugs, which means that they allow the body to recuperate faster from a workout, thus allowing one to have longer and more intense workout. You do not have to be a musclehead to use steroids. And remember that Sir Charles has admitted the use of steroids in the off-season (as anti-inflammatory), and said that their use is extensive in the NBA.

  • rikson

    10 days?! That has to be a joke… If thats the league reaction they could also make it legal -> this wont frighten off any player!

  • rikson

    “Remember, the 1992 Dream Team was entered only after the IOC signed an agreement with the NBA that the players will not undergo the same vigorous testing as other Olympic athletes…” -> Man, is that true?

  • rabn21

    no excuse for a professional athlete, just none. how many athletes need to get done for banned substances before they start realising maybe it might be a good idea to ask the team doctor / strength and conditioning coach before taking any supplements. common sense please!!!

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Blinguo

    Hey, better than being found guilty of too high levels of estrogen, you know, “Manny being Tranny.”

  • RedRum

    @rikson: unfortunately yes…
    @rabn21: unfortunately this is what comes with pro sports. Always looking the competitive edge. most Pro athletes have warped sense of competitiveness and self-importance, and sad to say are not very bright (at least in popular sports like NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB).

  • mumadone

    They test in the off season? Somebody call the Chicken Mane!

  • http://www.broy7.com nate the great

    yeah delonte west was hilarious as hell!! haha.
    chipotle?

  • Agent 87

    don’t be stupid!
    guys get caught every year during Tour de France despite knowing they’ll be tested (and a lot more than an average nba player).
    Do you think they’re the only one to use stuff ?
    certainly not but there is too much money at stake in bball and soccer to risk a scandal.

  • RedRum

    Just to elaborate on my comment about the 1992 Dream Team not being tested. Before 2004, the NBA players who were in the national teams were under the rules of US basketball drug testing, not the IOC and WADA who can just come unannounced any time. Under US basketball regulation there are two pre-season drug tests, with dates pretty much known. It is easy to understand how easy it is to use drugs under such rules. However, this has recently changed, as the 2008 US team was the first team that was tested under WADA regulations, which means anytime before and after the Games. But the genious that Stern is only allowed the 1992 team that carried the biggest names ever only to take part if drug tests were under US basketball and not WADA (then IOC) regulations. You think Malone’s bicepts were an accident? ;)

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ Moose

    Click my name for some of my thoughts on a particular facet of drugs in sports.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    Look, there are, like Redrum said, different types of steroids. I highly doubt Rashard was taking ANABOLIC steroids. There are ‘steroids’ (and I use the term generally), which affect an athlete’s ability to decrease recovery time, which I imagine is what Lewis (‘Shard, not Carl) did.
    If Shard really WAS taking ‘roids, you wouldn’t even know. The technology for catching drug-cheats is, and always has been 2-3 years behind the masking technology, and new drugs. Think of it like the battle for sonar detection and stealth the last 50 years. One side has always been forced to catch-up after being surpassed- except that this ‘battle’ is very, very one-sided.
    The only way you are going to catch an NBA player with these types of drugs in their system is;
    A) Physically seeing them inject/swallow something
    B) Having caught them with it in their possession.
    Remember, Rashard would have a professional trainer, and all the Magic staff to make sure he didn’t take anything illegal/banned. The only reason he would’ve taken it would be by accident.
    HOWEVER, by that same token, the training staff may have aided him in the drug-taking, by helping to cover-up his use and or help him inject.
    Now, let’s think about this, if ‘Shard HAD been taking whatever for a certain period of time, why has he been caught NOW? My thoughts would be that he himself injected the drugs and didn’t follow/know the measures to take pre/during/post injection. That slip-up must’ve been it – or else he was telling the truth, and that the over the counter story was true, and an accident.
    The NBA is involved in cutting edge sport-science technology and the Magic trainers would be very, very aware of any new developments in drug-testing procedures… so they’d know the new stuff available in the black market to counteract that. Do NOT be naive about this.
    Then again, ‘Shard may have just been done for diuretics which are used to hids the effects of steroid and stimulant use.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    You can replace the name ‘Rashard Lewis’ with any other sports person above who plays in the NBA, NHL, NFL etc, and my point still stands and is valid.

  • http://www.twitter.com/mansonovic Mansonovic

    It’s reaching the stage where we should just let them ALL do them, and let them fight it out on an even playing field. All sports logos should have a big white asterisk in their upp-right quadrant.

  • http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

    Sasha Vujacic’s testosterone levels are in the negative.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    LMAO @ Anton.

  • http://www.twitter.com/Th3_R3al_Chris Young Chris MP3

    Why do people refer to it as “juicing” when they aren’t injecting needles in them for dietary supplements? And what’s funny about fans and media chastising professional sports stars for taking supplements is that, in this society, GNC does more business from THEM than they do from athletes. Everybody is so obsessed with looking fit, keeping their weight down, going to the gym, having healthy skin, looking and feeling their best. If the entire census got “random testing,” 90% of the adult population, and maybe 70% of youth, would be “juicing.” Flintstone vitamins, anyone?

  • http://slamonline.com Spaceship Jay

    That explains the acne.

  • rikson

    The problem isnt that athlete take steroids -> the problem is the unfair competition that results from it! So nobody cares if the adult population is “juiced”… But shouldnt it be everys athletes wish to have a fair competition?!

  • RedRum

    Great posts by Hurtsty, completely agree

  • http://www.games.org.au games

    It is really sad to hear about it,bt it is really cool game.

  • rikson

    You guys do know, that so many people were caught using seroids at the tour de france because a new testing-method was invented. The athletes just thought tnothing would be seen during the tests! Maybe thats why Lewis was caught now…

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