Last week, NBA star Rashard Lewis failed a routine drug test, it was found that he had elevated levels of steroids in his urine and was suspended 10 games.
Now I agree that steroids and performance enhancing drugs should be banned from competitive sports, but being suspended from elevated levels of testosterone is ridiculous. The drug that Lewis took was an over-the-counter substance called DHEA (I know the wikipedia article says this it’s a steroid, but fact of life: some steroids are naturally produced by the body)found in many many supplements that you can by at nutrition stores. It causes elevated levels of testosterone AND ESTROGEN in the human body, in fact, it would be more common to have higher estrogen levels than testosterone in men who use this a supplement. Studies have shown that the affects of DHEA on the human body are negligible.
Needless to say, Lewis’ suspension is ridiculous and is an example of the the flawed system used by professional sports organizations to ensure their players are ‘clean’. The reason why DHEA is a banned substance isn’t because the scientists who work for the NBA/MLB/NFL are mindless and don’t know what chemical does what, but rather it’s a result of the media scrutiny of professional sports organizations for the possibility that their players use banned substances, when only one of those organizations has a significant track record of players involved in the use of PEDs.
When news of Rashard Lewis’ test results broke up, the response from the community was absurd. Many people questioned the long term effects of this chemical without doing any kind of research on their own, and even more questioned the use the PEDs in the NBA when only 6 players in the start of the drug test program (1999) of the NBA have tested positive for steroids. Six players! One of baseball’s numerous test results from 2003 show more than 10 players who have used PEDs!
I know the affects of steroids goes beyond that of simply strength – increased endurance, agility, etc. However, these abilities still diminish the fact that the athlete needs to have just as many soft skills as athletic skills in order to perform well (Jamario Moon, Josh Smith, Fred Jones, just to name a few who lack the former). Some athletes have amazing leaping abilities, and are incredibly fast, but if they don’t know when to run and when to jump, what’s the point of having such skills? Barry Bonds is the most famous user of PEDs, but everyone forgets that he is one of the only players who’s ever hit 40 home runs and had 40 stolen bases in one season. Sure he can’t do that now because of his steroid abuse, but people shouldn’t forget the kind of player he was before he used and PEDs. Just like how people should remember that Rashard Lewis is already a great player who’s both athletically and mentally gifted, and that this occurrence was an honest mistake.
