In one of the NBA’s more obvious time scenes, the Cleveland Cavs were given a “random” drug test just hours after Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points. Performance Monday night. The association felt it was too convenient to “randomly” test the Cavs’ performance-enhancing drugs a day after Mitchell scored the most points in a game since Kobe Bryant’s 81-point streak in 2006.
We often see a lot of high-scoring individuals in the NBA, but this time a team was tested for a “random” PED. You would be foolish not to question the validity of this test after the game in Mitchell’s career. It’s not like he was a player who barely made a lot of money in the league for five years, and then suddenly, BAM! Out of nowhere, he scored more points in a game than Michael Jordan or LeBron James ever did. Spida isn’t one of those people, but he’s been one of the better young stars in the league since he joined in ’17.
Set a new precedent
Saying that this particular trial was random would only make people wonder how “random” these trials were initially. Luka Dončić scored 60 points a few days before Spida’s high careerand no news of a randomized trial for Mav the next day. Dončić is more appreciated by the NBA and fans, but facts are facts.
Last March, we saw Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving drop 50-point gems in succession. Irving scored 60 points against Orlando and had another 50 points a week before that. No randomized trials were reported after those games, and certainly not after the duo’s successive masterpieces. Not that the league is targeting anyone, but the timing here is strange enough to raise questions.
Contaminated by testing
Mitchell’s great game has now been tainted, if only slightly, by the testing that followed. Most of us don’t think he’s on drugs, but there’s always that suspicion that creeps in every time we hear the word PED in relation to professional athletes. This is not as common in basketball as it is in baseball or football, but it is certainly the cause most of the time when acronyms are uttered.
When it comes to PED use, basketball players are the last to join the conversation about athletes and banned substances. But the NBA already has a percentage of players who test positive for drugs on their PED list. Rashard Lewis is a name that many people remember turn out in ’09, missed 10 games. 2019 AytonJohn Collins, and Wilson Chandler was suspended for violating NBA PED policy. Whether they did it intentionally or allegedly accidentally, they were arrested and suspended.
So while there is sometimes a problem with substance abuse in the NBA and in society at large, timing by Mitchell test is too special. Hopefully nothing there with Spida or any of his teammates can ruin their great season. The Cavs are currently in fourth place, just a few games off first place in a crowded grandstand.
