It is an important step. Brooklyn Netsstar Kevin DurantOn Thursday, he announced that a partnership was made with Weedmaps and that he will use the platform to de-stigmatise marijuana use in athletes.
Durant is a strong advocate of the health benefits of cannabis and has made investments in marijuana-related companies in the past. Durant is known for his visibility and it’s probably the farthest a major professional athlete has traveled in the cannabis space.
Durant said that it was past time to tackle the stigmas surrounding cannabis in sport and the world. This partnership will allow us to continue normalizing those conversations as well as creating content and events through our Boardroom media network. We are just at the beginning.
Weedmaps does not sell marijuana directly, but it is an ecommerce platform which guides people to dispensaries. Durant was hesitant to speak about personal marijuana use.
Although marijuana is still banned by the NBA, it’s legal in an area that has been decriminalized. The current league regulations require the completion of four random marijuana tests each year. These tests were informally stopped when the league restarted in Orlando in 2020, and didn’t continue in 2020-21.
ESPN was informed Thursday by representatives from both the league and the player’s union that they are still in dialogue regarding marijuana, but no plans for formally changing the rule. Last month, the league suspended drug testing. Toronto RaptorsJalen Harris will be kept under surveillance for one year due to violations of the Anti-Drug Policy.
Due to the sensitive issue of this matter, it was difficult forging the deal. The six-month-old negotiations with Weedmaps between Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman and Durant have been successful. Weedmaps became public in June. Although other prominent athletes, such as the WNBA’s Sue Bird have endorsed CBD products for their use, Durant is not one of them.
Matt Barnes is a former NBA player and a cannabis advocate. He has admitted that he used marijuana for most of his career. It has been difficult. For many years, there have been meetings between the union and league. Both sides have also hired specialists to look into this. This is a significant step.
The pace at which disciplinary action for marijuana violations was slowed down before the pandemic. Thabo Sefolosha was the last person to get suspended in 2018 for having used marijuana.
Sefolosha said, “I don’t intend to wear that badge of honour,” after he was out of the league for 14 years. “I was trying internally to modify the rules. It is something that should have been addressed long before now. The league does not want to encourage it. It’s something that I wouldn’t encourage my children to try. I do not want to convey the wrong message. It’s an acceptable substitute for more difficult drugs (which the team doctor may even prescribe you), and it was something I learned on my own.
Durant plans to tackle this issue and will launch a campaign to distribute podcasts and videos under the Boardroom media banner over the next few months. Durant expressed the hope that his league peers will also discuss cannabis’ benefits.
Durant stated on Thursday’s “Boardroom: Out of Office” podcast that the deal was announced: “The Band-Aid is rip off.”