Among his many nicknames, Shaquille O’Neal was known as the Big Diesel during his career. It was a fitting nickname not only because of his immense size, but because like a diesel engine with unleaded gas, there are certain things he just never put in his body. Shaq has always maintained that he’s never smoked marijuana, even though weed culture has become more pervasive in the NBA and professional sports over the years as a means of pain relief.
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Shaq recently hosted former Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson on The Big Podcast with Shaq, which gave him an opportunity to speak more about what he saw in his career when it came to weed use in the NBA. That’s because Johnson was there in part to promote Primitiv, the company he co-founded with his former teammate Rob Sims.
Primitiv is a cannabis research company that aims to take away the stigmas surrounding weed use and unlock its therapeutic potential with fact-based research. In an effort to see how pervasive weed use was back in his playing days, cohost Adam Lefkoe asked him if he saw it much back in the ’90s, or more towards the end of his career.
Shaq drew a laugh by pretending to cover his answer up by the sound of paper crumpling over the microphone, but then he admitted, “I saw it. Every team I was on, I saw it.” He didn’t partake, but he would tell his teammates who did to be careful, since back then the NBA could randomly test and punish players.
Professional sports leagues are much more accepting of players smoking now than they used to be, in large part because of its proven healing benefits. Pro athletes, football players especially, endure incredible physical and sometimes mental pain from playing, and weed has been proven to help relieve that.
The NBA has been one of the leaders in destigmatizing weed
Kevin Durant has been a strong advocate for the benefits of using weed, and two years ago he was part of a group that helped convince NBA commissioner Adam Silver to modernize the league’s policy around the drug. Silver did, and as a result, weed use is no longer illegal in the NBA, and players are no longer tested.
Durant has said that everybody in the league uses weed, and that it’s so common that “it’s become like wine at this point.” The rest of the country seems to agree, as weed is now legal for recreational use in 24 states and for medical use in 39 states.
Shaq obviously still has a bit of a hang-up about the drug that was no doubt ingrained during his playing days, but by allowing Johnson to talk about it on his podcast, he’s showing an openness to be educated on it. Let it never be said that the Big Diesel is close-minded.
