Earlier this week, former NBA player Jeff Teague went viral for claiming that LeBron James used to take steroids while playing for the Miami Heat. However, with no evidence to back up his statement and a generation of LeBron fans watching, he quickly came under fire for spreading misinformation. Teague later backtracked in an attempt to save his credibility. Meanwhile, former guard Gilbert Arenas remains unsure about the rumors surrounding James but believes it’s worth remembering that drug testing policies were much looser in the past.
Advertisement
It all started on an episode of Teague’s podcast where he and his crew were talking about LeBron. They were discussing which era of the King was the most dominant: Cavs, Heat, Cavs again, or Lakers. Without hesitation, Teague picked Heat LeBron, then dropped a bomb of a rumor.
“Miami Heat Bron, he was on steroids, bro. They started testing for HGH, and he had to sit out. He said his back was hurting and he sat out 3 weeks… then came back skinny,” Teague said on the Club 520 Podcast.
They were wild accusations to make. There has never been any evidence supporting claims that LeBron took steroids. But as a former player with insider access, Teague’s statement quickly gained traction among fans and analysts. Before he knew it, his comments had overtaken the internet. Feeling the heat, he completely backpedaled the next day.
“I was joking. Because if I knew that, people were like, ‘How did you know he was on steroids?’ I didn’t know. I don’t know. I don’t care, because if he was and I knew, I would’ve told him to give me some,” the former Milwaukee Bucks champ later said.
Arenas couldn’t believe how Teague got caught up in the mess. He wondered what possibly could’ve come over him to backtrack so quickly. “Come on, Teague. Are they paying you? Did clutch get to you? That man, I ain’t never seen no defense played like that before. Like, he woke up and changed. He said it, went to sleep, woke up, ‘Hey, I was just kidding y’all.’ Damn, T. They got you, man,” Arenas said on No Chill Gil.
It’s not like the topic is one that Arenas isn’t interested in. In fact, he’s brought up the discussion of the NBA’s drug testing policies and how they’ve changed over the years several times in the past. Pointing out that there used to be a lot more bald players, a common side effect of steroid usage.
Arenas later opened up about this topic and shared a funny anecdote from conversations he used to have with former players from the ’80s and ’90s. “I’ve asked players back then in the 80s and the 90s, and I said, ‘Hey, man, how many tests did y’all have to do in the NBA?’ They said, ‘I’ve never been tested,’” he said while laughing.
It was simply a different era. Furthermore, the commissioner of the NBA at the time, David Stern, didn’t think drug usage was ever an issue. So, he never tested for it until the turn of the century.
“Even Stern came out and was like, ‘We don’t have a drug problem.’ Dudes were getting arrested for cocaine and crack in the NBA. And Stern was like, ‘That’s just a one-off.’ Like, I don’t think the first person that got busted for steroids, I don’t think it happened until like, 2000.”
In the end, it’s all pure speculation, but there are some interesting things that Arenas points out. Some former players say that drug usage was so rampant in NBA locker rooms in the ‘80s that teams hired private investigators to spy on their players. Additionally, the #2 overall pick in the 1986 Draft, Len Bias, died from a drug overdose two days after being selected.
There is no evidence that steroid use was rampant during that same era. It very well could’ve been, but we will never really know. And honestly, maybe it’s better kept that way. Who knows whose legacy could ultimately be affected by such a revelation?
