Green light for marijuana use for gamers NBA. The renewal of the collective agreement until 2030 between Adam Silver’s league that represents the owners of the 30 franchises, and the NBPA (the players’ union) also brings with it this curious novelty. An agreement – the one between the parties – which arrived after months of negotiations and which avoids the risk of a “lockout” as happened in 1998 and 2011: the new contract will enter into force in 2023/24 and will last seven years.
As regards the use of marijuana, any type of prohibition relating to its use has been removed from the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). Since 2019/20, cannabis has no longer been included in the substances considered relevant in anti-doping controls, while with this measure we have arrived at a sort of “free for all”.
A rule that makes the NBA even more of a planet apart from the rest of world sport: despite the pressure, cannabis remains among the prohibited substances identified by the Wada World Code. THC (the active ingredient in cannabis) is only prohibited in competition and only when the urinary concentration exceeds a threshold of 150 ng/mL.
Among other innovations, the limit of 65 games to be played in order to access the seasonal prizes, a measure that would serve to discourage “load management”, or the scheduled rests of the players. In addition, at the salary level, a second threshold for the luxury tax to prevent teams like the Warriors and Clippers from overspending, preventing them from taking advantage of exceptions like the mid-level; contract extensions may reach a 140% increase compared to the current 120%; a contract “two-way” more per team, going from two to three, allowing more young people to connect with franchises through the G-League or from undrafted picks.
Finally, speaking of Draft, the age limit has not been lowered to be able to declare oneself, in spite of some rumors which instead claimed the opposite. Therefore, the canonical 19 years will be needed to be able to enter the NBA and not 18, with managers and owners who are firmly opposed. Therefore, the boys coming out of high school will have to wait for a year to spend in college (the famous “One-and-Done”), abroad, in the G-League or in other leagues such as the Overtime Elite.
