Rashard Lewis Suspended: Violating NBA Drug Policy

By: Josh Leighton

116 million dollar contract,

Championship appearance,

2 time-all-star

Above average career totals

Steroid Suspension

Sammy Sosa? Manny Ramirez? Nope. Rashard Lewis

Rashard Lewis has been suspended for the first ten games of the upcoming season for high testosterone levels, which he blames on a supplement and plans to “consult an expert in the future” about.

Lewis is only the 4^th NBA player to be suspended for steroid use. Matt Geiger in 2001, Don MacLean in 2000, and Soumaila Samake in 2002. Of MacLean’s suspension, Charles Barkley said “I’ve seen MacLean naked, he doesn’t use steroids.” Chris Anderson was rumored to have been using steroids, as has Darius Miles, but Anderson was suspended for recreational drugs and Miles is out of the league anyway. Various blogs (and fans) claim that LeBron James or Dwight Howard cannot be as big as they are, or were when they were drafted, by natural sources.

Dirk Nowitzki has been mentioned in rumors about HGH (for which the NBA does not test to the extent of my knowledge) because it was/is legal in his native Germany. For those of you who don’t know, HGH, or Human Growth Hormone, will increase growth around the time of adolescence, and increase body mass after one is finished growing (see:Barry Bonds). Rumored effects are supposedly evident in Nowitzki (who would have used HGH to grow taller, not put on mass), but there is no evidence or real media coverage of such rumors.

This leads us to this point: Why does a basketball player (particularly Rashard Lewis) need steroids? A shooter/wingman type player like Lewis wants to be quick and nimble, therefore he’s not looking to overpower many players. You could make the argument that Carlos Boozer or Dwight Howard would want to take steroids so they can bulk up, grab rebounds, muscle people down low and dominate the area around the rim.

The bottom line is that the effects of steroids work against what a basketball player eventually wants. Have you ever seen someone, who’s lanky, wiry, thin, tall and said to yourself “hey, he looks like he’s a ball-player.” If you haven’t, I can guarantee you that you haven’t looked at a 6-2 250 pound specimen and said “hey, he looks like a good ball-player.” Basketball players want to be explosive, agile, and strong in a lean frame. Steroid usage would make you larger, slower, and more powerful but in a Mark McGwire sense.

Some claim that steroids will help an NBA player recover more quickly for the toughness that an 82 game season requires. This is the only possible reason for an NBA player (other than a one-dimensional post player) to use steroids. But, basketball injuries (such as pulled hamstrings, groins, knee slicers) won’t recover like Andy Pettite’s ankle. Additionally, steroid usage can also hurt recovery.

Just this one time, the “it was a supplement” excuse may be correct because Rashard Lewis truly has nothing to gain (no major injuries, and he’s a swingman) from taking steroids.