How NBA Players Reacted to Coach’s Endorsement of Marijuana
The use of marijuana as a form of pain relief for professional athletes has become a hot topic in the sports world once again thanks to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who recently admitted to smoking weed twice over the last 18 months to help him deal with chronic back pain. Kerr took a leave of absence from the team last season after he suffered a spinal fluid leak during surgery to repair a ruptured disk, and he was still dealing with pain when he returned to the sideline months later.
Whether you agree with Kerr on why marijuana should be allowed in the NBA to treat pain or not, he makes some interesting points that are worthy of recognition. As a result, a number of players and coaches in the NBA have since voiced their opinion on the matter. Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson, for example, said the rhetoric has to be careful because “you have a lot of kids where I’m from that’s reading this and they think (marijuana use is) cool.” Players like Andrew Bogut and Klay Thompson, on the other hand, were more on the same page with Kerr’s long-term vision as long as the drug is being used for the right reasons. Draymond Green said, “makes a lot of sense,” and added, “You look at something that comes from the Earth. Any vegetable that comes from the Earth, they encourage you to eat it.”
Bogut then took it a step further in only a way he can by telling a personal story about how he once thought he smoked weed as a kid, only to later learn that he probably didn’t.
Andrew Bogut: “I’ve never really gotten high in my life. I thought I had some weed as a kid, but I think the guy sold me regular grass.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 4, 2016
If you want to read what else Bogut had to say, you can check it out here.