Can there be something like the Mitchell Report for the NBA?

The sports world basically stood with mouth agape this week as senator George Mitchell came out with his report on those who had been linked either by purchases or actual drug testing to be using steroids and other illegally banned substances. It was literally startling to see how many people were on this list.

So, the question is--if this can happen to baseball, can it happen to pro basketball? On one hand, the knee-jerk reaction is that basketball probably doesn't, because of the nature of the game--the need for speed, dexterity, and the like, tells you that the use is probably minimal at best. But--think about it from another view--in today's day and age, the older players, and by older I mean 27 and up, who may have played pro ball for at least 5 years, the use may be something to think about; the grind of the 82 games plus playoffs, facing younger, stronger players down low, the need to be at the top of your game much of the time--this may point to a raised eyebrow of "hmmm...maybe".

Now, the majority of talent holders probably wouldn't get close to the stuff. But those tweeners--the guys that are first off the bench but basically hold their height as a reason they are there--these are the guys that may sometime turn to performance enhancers to turn it up. This way they can get that edge, prolong their career, and maybe even get a lot better than they were. Now, I won't name names, but there are several players around the NBA that I feel fit this profile--and while I don't discount their hard work and ethics on the background--seeing a report like this from baseball where not only did it show the big behemoths that you would go "duh" to, there were also several names of little speedy guys, middle-range pitchers, and it just hit me--this could be something that is an epidemic in many other realms as well.

You just never know.

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Can there be something like the Mitchell Report for the NBA?

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