In the NBA, Kevin Durant claims that “everyone does” cannabis.
“He smelled it when I walked in, so I didn’t really have to say much, you know what I’m saying?” said Durant during an interview.
The 34-year-old continued by saying that the medication is now used so frequently in the league that “it’s like wine.”
Cannabis use is no longer forbidden for NBA players.
The medication is no longer listed as a prohibited substance in the new collective bargaining agreement that the league and its union, the National Basketball Players Association, inked last month.
The policy change drew praise from the likes of rapper Snoop Dogg, who touted its “health benefits and how it could actually help ease the opioids and all the pills that they’ve been given and the injections”.
Players have not been subject to random tests for cannabis since the 2019-20 season.
Durant, a forward for the Phoenix Suns and one of the top scorers in NBA history, was among those who personally lobbied NBA commissioner Adam Silver in a meeting to stop the league penalising use of the drug.
During an interview at a sports and business conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Durant said: “He kind of understood where this was going.
“It’s the NBA, man. Everybody does it, to be honest. It’s like wine at this point.”
He said Mr Silver – the league’s commissioner since 2014 – agreed with him. The BBC has contacted the NBA for comment.
“I just enjoy the plant,” stated Durant, who owns stakes in a number of businesses involved with cannabis. “It’s as simple as that.”
In recent years, the cannabis regulations of some US sports leagues have been loosened, including as Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Although the substance is still illegal to use or possess under federal law, it is permitted for recreational use in 23 US states, three US territories, and the nation’s capital, Washington, DC.
