I think Lebron is definately a roider. It's not even really a question to me. Tim Duncan no. jared sullinger. No. Russell Westbrook. Yes. Dwight Howard. Probably. Kelly Olynyk. No. I don't think that's my celtics bias either. I don't think the celtics get players who use steroids too much if at all. ROndo was though i think maybe. Avery Bradley. Marcus Smart. None of those guys are on roids. Perkins was just a naturally big dude. I can just tell how certain players look. LEbrons face and jawline is messed up. So is westbrook. Both players the way they play as well it's like they are juicing.
Naive point of view.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/51305/gaps-in-nba-drug-testingA handful of NBA players have been caught and suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. Most served five- or 10-game suspensions:
2000: Don MacLean, for steroids
2001: Matt Geiger, for steroids
2002: Soumaila Samake, for the anabolic steroid nandrolone
2007: Lindsey Hunter, for the stimulant phhentermine
2008: Darius Miles, for the stimulant phhentermine
2009: Rashard Lewis, for the steroid DHEA
2011: O.J. Mayo, for the steroid DHEA
Edit... article was pre-hedo...
2013: Hedo Turkoglu, for steroids
...
Did you confidently predict those guys were roiders? Nah. Can you confidently predict someone like Jae Crowder, Brandon Bass, Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart is clean? Of course not. My guess is steroids in the NBA are mostly used for recovery. Did you see how up-and-down KG was throughout the 2010 playoffs? Most just figured he was taking cortisone shots for the injuries. You confident he didn't roid on his way back from injury in 09? When Kobe goes to Germany, are you confident he's not taking some sketchy drugs to expedite his recovery? Should we really even care?
I can't confidently claim that any Celtic is free of steroids. I also can't confidently predict any player is taking them. Who knows. I do know that LeBron's weight fluctuation has a pretty clear explanation... he dieted for 67 days and then gained the weight back post-diet. Aside from the above-mentioned players who were suspended, the only player I can predict with 95% confidence actually took steroids... was Buff Johnson in 1996:
... But that's because anabolic steroids are (were?) a crucial part of treatment for HIV as it prevents wasting and weight loss... especially in the mid 90s when the mix of drugs hadn't been perfected yet. There's very little chance mid-90s Magic wasn't on Steroids during his brief return to the NBA. It's a hot take that you'll only hear from LarBrd33... because nobody gives a crap. You're welcome.