The 2022-23 NBA season has seen a litany of jaw-dropping performances that will go down in the annals of NBA history. Donovan Mitchell scoring 71 points, becoming the first player since Kobe Bryant in 2006 to cross 70+ points in a game, in OT was one of the greatest scoring performances the league had ever seen.
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Luka Doncic made history when he dropped a 60 point and 20 rebound triple double. Most recently, Damian Lillard dropped 71 points, yet another game that saw an undersized scoring guard obliterate a defense. He did so in less than 40 minutes, making it the least amount of time needed for a player to cross 70+.
However, the one thing common between Spida and Dame’s 71 point outbursts that is a bit dodgy is one that Stephen Jackson uses to imply something quite unflattering about the NBA.
Stephen Jackson on Donovan Mitchell getting drug tested and not Luka Doncic
Stephen Jackson took to ‘I AM ATHLETE’ this past month to call out the NBA for having double standards when it comes to drug testing players. After having big games, players across the league are getting hit with blood tests to make sure they aren’t on PEDs.
Jackson would point out that Luka Doncic, after dropping one of the greatest triple doubles of all time, was not drug tested. However, Donovan Mitchell’s 71 points led to him being drug tested almost immediately. According to Stak, the NBA is ‘showing their hand’ when it comes to this, alluding to racial undertones at play.
Damian Lillard would suffer the fate as Mitchell. After he dropped 71 points, he had his blood drawn for testing. Dame admitted to this in his post-game press conference, even stating he has a fear of needles despite his numerous tattoos.
Kendrick Perkins recently made quite the wild assumption.
Kendrick Perkins has recently got into quite the war of words with JJ Redick online over Nikola Jokic and his style of play. According to Perk, the reigning 2x MVP is stat-padding when it comes to his triple doubles. Redick’s rebuttal is that the Nuggets are 23-0 this season when he records a triple-double.
Perkins’ most recent take on Jokic had him wildly suggest that the only reason guys like him, Dirk Nowitzki, and Steve Nash won MVPs was because they were white Europeans. Of course, this has been met with a considerable amount of backlash.
