[BasketballGuru24Participant]

I think this guy is a great person……got to meet him when he played in seattle and he never seemed like a guy that would do something bad, forget the fact that he took roids. I think the suspension is a little too much, and he really took by mistake, some athletes i know are too paranoid to take suppliments. The NBA has a strict drug policy, and alot of players are not usually doping since they will get caught easily.

Lewis was never a guy to get in trouble in the league. Guys like stand vand gundy said he was ” One of the best people in the league”

Ray Allen Said he was as classy an individual as there in the NBA

Lewis has passed 4 previous random Drug test….. He wasn’t a guy that would try to use steroids to advance his career.Lewis Says he his sorry, but still knows he didn’t do it intentionally. Lewis Said

” Look at me, i’m skinny as hell. Does it look like a take steroids?……Im telling you it was a honest mistake. I would never knowingly put any sort of substance or steroid into my body that is against the rules”

I think Lewis is innocent and should really get a deduction in his suspension…..Yes he was caught, but mistakes happen. I think they should reduce it to a 3 game suspension. Thats sounds reasonable and the guy never had any previous offenses. the Police will usually leave you with a warning if it was your first offense or a slighter punishment that avid crime doers.

Do you think he should get a reduction in his supension? Tell me what you think

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

i think they should reduce the punishment. he’s not a trouble maker and doesn’t bring drama to the table. give him a break.

[McWinningParticipant]

i dont think its that bad, 10 games isnt too serios. and the nba cant let players get away with this or else they might do it again.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I can understand the argument for reduced suspension but the rules are the rules and by making it clear cut like this you dont have it to where someone like a Ron Artest gets screwed for his reputation versus actual intent.

[BasketballGuru24Participant]

Well his Past Does Speak for him…….he has never gotten into any trouble with the NBA. Artest is the poster boy of trouble. he has done too much in his past, so now he has no liability. Its Good Credit Vs Bad Credit, and with artest bad credit he will never win.

[SpencerIsHawesome]

I like the guy as much as the next guy but whether or not he mistakenly took the substance isn’t the issue. It’s spelled out clearly what is legal and not legal. He didn’t do the research necessary. 10 Games is nothing and a perfectly fair punishment. To even think 10 games is too harsh is ridiculous, if you ask me.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

You can’t judge by a players reputation. The league needs to punish all players fairly. He had elevated testosterone levels, and all players are given a list of banned substances. The league can’t pick favorites.

[BasketballGuru24Participant]

10 games is actually a lot and important…..orlando needs him , and then can either start off on the right food or off the wrong foot, he is a big part of the team. 10 games can be 0-10 or 10-0. they even face cleveland in one of those 10 games, and that will be a huge lost.

[Bryant24Participant]

rashard lewis seems like cool guy this is his first offense i think he should be suspended for first two games its not like he constantly in trouble or something he still a great player to me. But if he doing this how many others are?

[McWinningParticipant]

it is something but its better than 2 years, like what the birdman got. even though what he took was much worse.

[Lemons4LifeParticipant]

The NBA is ruining the first matchup against the Cavs. Even though it probably will be sold out. Lewis didn’t even know he was taking these. I say just pay. On the other hand, I agree with B-ball fan, if this was Dennis Rodman or Ron Artest it would be quite different. Final word: Rashard Lewis’s punishment was indeed too harsh.

[MallStax5Participant]

suspend him regardless of who he is and his rep.
because Lewis was key for the magic last season
who is too say what would have happened if you never used the substance?
are the magic in the finals?

[BasketballGuru24Participant]

The birdman got two years because he was a junkie……he was abusing his money on cocaine , crystal meth, heroin, etc.He is far way worse then lewis. He was banned because he needed help, and if he didn’t a early grave we would have saw

lewis is not a bad character. He has been a good guy his whole career. He has done a mistake one time in his life, and he gets a big punishment. they should know since his track record is clean .

[SpencerIsHawesome]

It’s spelled out what you can and what you cannot take! He didn’t pay enough attention to it, it is his own fault. To say he should come back so they can have the matchup with the Cavs is a terrible reason to have him back. HE BROKE THE RULES. No matter what kind of person he was/is he broke the completely spelled out rules. He had high testosterone levels, he may not have taken ‘roids and it may have been an accident but who’s to say the next guy did take roids and he didn’t take it on accident? 10 Games in an NBA season is more than 1/8th of the season.. That’s equivilant to an NFL player only getting suspended 2 games for a banned substance or MLB player only getting suspended 20 games(they get 50).

The Magic play PHI, NJ X2, TOR, DET X2, PHO, CHA, OKC, CLE

Without Rashard they will go at worst 4-6. That is absolute worst. I still think they will go 7-3.

[ckowalskiParticipant]

Lewis isn’t a bad person, nor do I think he took this supplement on purpose, but you can’t start making exceptions based on that, you have to punish everyone fairly, I agree with spencer. HOWEVER, his punishment is NOT fair in that it is without pay and will cost him almost $2.4 million, since he makes around $19 million next year. (10 games is 1/8 of the season, we all know how to do math.) So if someone with a salary of say $1 million is put in the same situation he will only lose $125,000. While the person with the lower salary may feel the fine more I think there should be a set fine for a first offense, second offense, and so forth, because a 10 game suspension without pay doesn’t seem too harsh but the guy is losing $2.4 million from it, that’s pretty ridiculous.

[JNixonParticipant]

Yea, as much as I think Lewis is a cool person, you have to make sure your putting the right things in your body. It’s imperative. So even though he didnt know, he should have and he has to be suspended. It just happens that the suspension’s length is 10 games, which isnt a debatable time period so he’ll have to roll with the punches.

[AZcats09Participant]

Since when do steroids help you shoot 3’s? Thats all Lewis does anyway.

Maybe he should pass that advice on to JJ Redick….who looks like hes been eating steroids for breakfast, lunch and dinner since he joined the league….and he still sucks.

[doubledribblerParticipant]

Come on guys. A rule is a rule. I don’t care how nice someone seems. A lot of the guys that have failed drug tests in MLB seem like nice guys (i.e., Manny, Ortiz, Petite), yet the one guy that they were never able to prove took steroids (Barry Bonds) has a horrible reputation. I’m still not sure why Artest has such a horrible reputation. He screwed up horribly, but it was only once. If he had punched the right guy, it wouldn’t have been that bad in my opinion. If anyone remembers Lamar Odom is one failed drug test from being kicked out of the NBA.

If Lewis is only punished 1 or 2 games as some of you say, what would be the deterrent from other players doing the same? They are going to think, worst case, I miss two games in a season. I was probably going to miss at least two games anyways. 10 games is a fair punishment. It’s not a death sentence as much as it is a warning. He should have paid attention to what he was putting into his body. He makes way too much money and is way too important to his team to be that careless, though I think his excuse is bogus. Most NBA players take a lot of time and effort to get their bodies to play a grueling 82 plus game schedule. For those that don’t know, there are positive effects of steroids, so don’t dismiss it. This is basketball. There are a lot of guys if they were bigger, stronger, faster that would be superstars, some would actually make rosters and others would get a lot more playing time.

[MallStax5Participant]

steriods dont jus make you stronger it can also provide an adrenline rush and we all kno that when yure adrenline pumps

one 3 can turn into
5,6,7 in a row

[doubledribblerParticipant]

I don’t think people are giving steroids enough credit for the impact that they can have. I think they give much more of an advantage in basketball than one could imagine. A guy wants to post you and he may have trouble getting good position or you need just a little bit of a boost when drawing contact on a shot. Maybe there is a time in the game when you would be a little bit more tired than normal. Steroids also help in the healing process. I can think of quite a few teams that wish they had healthier players at the end of the year or a way to get their players to recuperate faster.

[llperez]

of you are saying, rules are rules and you can’ determine the punishment on reputation. Almost every athlete in any sport says it was an accident when they get caught for steroids. Not the NBA’s job to determine who is lying.

And to basketballguru, unless you have a source of information, you should’nt bash Birdman. How do you know he was a junkie taking all those drugs? The drug he took was never realeased, although it was probably one of those drugs. And Birdman himself has said he only did it once right around Christmas time and that he had never done it before. He might be lying, but unless you have proof, you should’nt label him a junkie who was addicted to numerous drugs and on his way to an early grave.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Does anybody know exactly what substance he took? If he bought it over the counter, what makes it so harmful? To be honest, I get confused when it comes to steroids. Athletes are allowed to take creatine, etc… So many other supplements. What’s the difference?

[llperez]

But there are a number of over the counter supplements that include small amounts of banned substances that are illegal in various sports. That’s why it is important for any athlete to make sure he knows what ingredients are in any over the counter supplements they take. I’ve heard about this happening plenty of times.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Yea… I mean, I agree with the suspension. It was silly for Lewis to take ANYTHING without checking if it was on the banned list first. Rules are rules and regardless of his intentions, he needs to be suspended. If they let him off the hook, other guys will expect to be let off the hook. The last thing I want to see in basketball is what’s going on in baseball.

My question is what was the substance and why was it banned? Next, I want to know why aren’t substances like creatine banned? I just don’t understand fully.

[llperez]

I’m curious, with all the steroid stuff going on inthte olympics, football, baseball, and mma, I believe this is the first time I’ve heard of it happening in the NBA. I don’t think it is an issue overall in basketball.

[gatorheelsParticipant]

tezo- I think the substance was DHEA which is commonly used for men over the age of 30 to prevent a drop in testosterone. I’m not sure why DHEA is banned but it must have some sort of negative side affect i’m guessing. Good question about creatine too…..since that increases your strength you figure that would ban that too.

[QHaynes20]

Honestly….I dont think he got a bad shake. 10 games are not bad

To be honest, he should have known what was in that supplement he took.

[TyroberParticipant]

this is ridiculous. the drug isnt even banned by baseball!. i mean cmon rashard is really roiding it up

[QHaynes20]

Yea man, if your gonna take something…why not ask someone in the health staff for your team is this ok? Come on, you cannot drop the ball like that

[MagikKnickParticipant]

new identity?

[QHaynes20]

Yea, I got a new Cpu and can’t find my old pass, just made a new one. Still Reppin’ the Knicks.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The drug not being banned in baseball has nothing to do with basketball. Two completely different sports. There’s a reason this is banned in the NBA. He was careless and now he needs to be a man and be held accountable. No excuses now.

They say he took the supplement late last season. I mean, if whatever he took increased his endurance and gave him more energy than guys who were banged up/tired from the 82 game season… How is that fair?

[doubledribblerParticipant]

Do you really need to take supplements when you are making millions of dollars? I can understand why athletes take supplements, but a lot of these guys have chefs and dietitians on their payroll, so why not have those guys and others that work for you, get the foods you need and the amount to make sure your body gets what it needs?

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

even if they go 0-10 which they won’t they will still be good enough for 3rd seed in the east.

[SpencerIsHawesome]

If he’s caught taking a drug that lowers testosterone usually means there is some other drug that raises testosterone involved (i.e roids)

[nthegoodlifeParticipant]

First off, rules are rules. Secondly, the NBA clearly states what supplements/drugs are legal and illegal. Therefore it is his responsibility to check, it is as simple as that. Its truly clearcut. In fact, his suspension should be worse when you think about it, the league literally says YOU CAN NOT take what he took. He should loose more games for the stupidity factor alone.

[Author]

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