Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr has signaled his support for medical marijuana in the NBA.
Momentum for medical marijuana in professional sports seems to be building. Former NFL star Eugene Monroe has headed an effort to allow football players to medicate with marijuana to ease pain. And now the NBA’s reigning MVP Coach, Steve Kerr, may be joining the effort.
Last year, Kerr missed a large part of the NBA season with a severe back injury. He was forced to watch his team on television. Kerr has developed a reputation for being a thinking man’s coach. Sitting at home and watching television can be challenging for a coach with an alpha competitive spirit and an active mind.
“I’m always struck every time I’m home on the couch watching a sporting event, some drug commercial comes on, they show these happy people jumping in a lake, rowing a boat, then you just wait for the qualifier,” Kerr said. “Side effects include suicidal thoughts and possible death. And you’re like, this is insane. Insane.”
Kerr recently admitted to giving medical marijuana a try when seeking relief for debilitating back pain.
“First, I’m disappointed it didn’t work. I really wanted some relief and I didn’t get it. [But] having done the research, it was well worth a try,” Kerr said.
The coach also noted, “athletes everywhere are prescribed Vicodin like it’s vitamin C, like it’s no big deal.” But he’s hopeful that America is ready to break its dependency on dangerous pharmaceutical medications.
“You can see it with our country, our country is starting to wisen up on the medicinal marijuana side. I hope we can wisen up on the prescription drug side. That’s scary stuff and it’s really not talked about often enough.”
Kerr appears to have the support of at least some of his players. “You look at something that comes from the Earth. Any vegetable that comes from the Earth, they encourage you to eat it,” All-Star Forward Draymond Green said.
According to Kerr, players may soon be able to access relief through medical marijuana.
“It’s only a matter of time before medicinal marijuana is allowed in sports leagues because the education will overwhelm the perception.”
