IN a stunning 180-degree turnaround since he held the National Basketball Association reins from February 1984 to February 2014, former league commissioner David Joel Stern is now in favor of marijuana use by players for medical purposes.
The 75-year-old Stern, who is widely credited for the immense popularity of the NBA in the U.S. and international scenes during the 1990s and 2000s, is convinced that marijuana does have some medicinal qualities and should be taken off the NBA’s list of banned substances.
Stern’s change of heart came after CNN cable television came up with a series on medical marijuana.
“There’s universal agreement that marijuana for medical purposes should be completely legal,” said the New York City-born Stern. “I think all of the (professional sports) leagues are now appropriately focused on player training, structuring of the right parts of their body, player rehabilitation in the case of injury, player nutrition, player this, player that. This (marijuana use) should be a part of that conversation.”
Stern, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 and became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame two years later, Stern also said that players who live and play in the states where recreational marijuana use has been legalized should be allowed to use the substance in accordance with the laws of those lands.
During the watch of Stern, marijuana became more tightly regulated in the NBA with penalties ranging from a warning for a first violation to game suspensions.
In 1999, the league owners pushed in collective bargaining agreement negotiations for a “stiffening” of its anti-drug abuse policy and included a ban on marijuana use.
Even current NBA czar Adam Silver, the former deputy commissioner who succeeded Stern on February 1, 2014, is exploring the idea. “I would say it’s something we will look at. I’m very interested in the science when it comes to medical marijuana,” said Silver sometime in August.
According to Stern, the elimination of marijuana from the NBA’s list of banned substances will have to go through the collective bargaining agreement route and the players union needs to negotiate for further study of the issue.
Mary Jane anyone?
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The streak of consecutive free throws made by Stephen Curry came to an abrupt halt when the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player awardee from reigning league titlist Golden State missed a technical freebie during the third quarter of the Warriors’ 115-107 loss to the Detroit Pistons at the Oracle Arena last October 29.
The 6-foot-3, 29-year-old backcourter made 52 straight free throws to open the 2017-18 campaign – including his first two against Detroit – before misfiring on his third to finish with a 2-for-3 effort.
Counting his final two charity conversions from the 2016-17 regular wars, Curry owned a career-best mark of 54 straight free throws made.
The Warriors’ all-time record for most consecutive free throws belongs to Hall-of-Fame forward Rick Barry, who hit 60 straight freebies in 1976.
The all-time NBA mark for most consecutive free throws made is held by guard Micheal Williams, who went 97 straight with the Minnesota Timberwolves from March 24, 1993-November 9, 1993.
Spanish guard Jose Calderon, who’s now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, made 87 straight free throws with the Toronto Raptors from April 11, 2008-January 30, 2009.
Dallas’ German frontliner Dirk Nowitzki, who has tied LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for most consecutive NBA seasons with one team throughout a career at 20, made 82 straight free throws with the Mavericks from March 29-October 29, 2010.
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