Report: NBA to Test for PEDs but Not Recreational Drugs After Restart

The NBA and its players association agreed to conduct testing for performance-enhancing drugs during its restarted season, according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.

The league will reportedly not test for recreational drugs during this time.

When the season was initially suspended due to the coronavirus in March, the NBA and NBPA agreed not to conduct tests during the hiatus.

The 2019-20 season is now set to return in July with 22 teams playing at least eight games in Orlando.

It will be more than four months between games for players since the season was initially suspended.

Players typically undergo four random drug tests during a season and two in the offseason.

A positive test for a performance-enhancing drug results in a 25-game suspension for a first offense, which could keep a player out of most if not all of the resumed season and playoffs. A second violation leads to a 55-game suspension while a third positive test results in a minimum of a two-year ban.

John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks, Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns and Wilson Chandler of the Brooklyn Nets all earned 25-game suspensions at the beginning of the 2019-20 season after testing positive for banned substances.