Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem was arrested recently for possession of marijuana.
Is anyone surprised?
Haslem is the latest player to join the long line of professional basketballers busted for pot, a list that includes current and former NBA All-Stars such as Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Lamar Odom and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to name just a few.
Under the guidelines of the NBA’s anti-drug policy, a player has to fail three tests for marijuana in order to be suspended by the league (the first flunk requires mandatory counseling, the second a $25,000 fine) for five measly game.
It doesn’t appear the NBA takes its players’ toking habits very seriously.
Nor should it. It’s 2010, not 1960.
Fourteen states, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana in some way. An NBA player getting caught with pot is hardly newsworthy anymore.
Recently, Mavs forward Josh Howard said in 2008 that “most of the players in the league use marijuana,” in addition to admitting his own puffing habits. Big-time players like Howard don’t just come out and say things like that for the hell of it.
Get over it, folks. The NBA is chalk full of stoners, and the trend won’t be on the decline anytime soon.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
