Former NBA Star Stephen Jackson Confesses To Occasionally Smoking Marijuana Before Games

Many NBA players, like dozens of other athletes, usually have some sort of pre-game ritual to prepare for games, at least for big contests.

Stephen Jackson Confesses Smoking Marijuana

Such rituals might involve taking a nap, doing drills, shooting hoops, or listening to a particular type of music.

Former forward Stephen Jackson, however, had a different habit.

Jackson — who played with the (then-New Jersey) Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers — admitted in a recent interview that he used to smoke marijuana before games.

Jackson, 38, said on Michael Rapaport’s podcast “I AM RAPAPORT” that he believed getting high to be helpful, and added that former Warriors head coach Don Nelson was aware of players doing this and had no problem with it.

“Listen, man, one thing about basketball, it’s no PEDs, no steroids, it’s nothing like that,” Jackson said. “From my experience in the league, players that I’ve been around, guys don’t even really drink — some guys do drink, some guys don’t smoke. I think it’s a higher percentage of guys that smoke than drink. I know coming in, especially in my time, everybody smoked. After games, when I came into the league, there was only one drug test. And that was in the beginning of the season, in training camp. You knew when it was coming. You could smoke the rest of the season. That was the good days.”

Jackson continued:

“A lot of guys do it because that’s the best way to relax,” he continued. “You take so much stuff to get up for the games, and guys don’t like taking all those pills and stuff to heal. Go home, smoke your blunt, man. You’ll sleep good….

“I can’t speak for nobody else,” Jackson said. “Me personally, I’ve done a lot of s— before games sometimes and still was out there to go out there and be productive. I just gotta be real, you know, it’s been a couple games where I smoked before games and had great games. It’s been some games where I smoked before the game and was on the bench after three minutes, sitting on the sideline, saying, ‘Please calm down, this high has to calm down.’ I done shot three shots that went over the backboard.”

James Herbert of CBSSports.com pointed out marijuana is on the NBA’s list of prohibited substances and that players can be randomly tested up to four times during the season and twice during the offseason.

Jackson’s comments came after current Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed he tried marijuana in an attempt to alleviate his back pain, according to CSN Bay Area’s Monte Poole.

The debate on marijuana use in the NBA has grown since California, Massachusetts, and Nevada joined Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington as states that have legalized the drug “in what advocates said was a reflection of the country’s changing attitude toward the drug,” per Thomas Fuller of the New York Times.