In his 15 seasons in the NBA, Kevin Durant has collected two championships and a most valuable player award, all while establishing himself as one of the greatest scorers to ever play the game. 

But it turns out one of his most significant contributions to the league came off the court. And when he was under the influence. 

Appearing at a sports business summit that aired Tuesday on CNBC, the Phoenix Suns star said he personally lobbied NBA commissioner Adam Silver to drop the league’s marijuana ban.

“I actually called him and advocated for him to take marijuana off the banned substance list,” Durant told CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin at the event. “I just felt like it was becoming a thing around the country, around the world … the stigma behind it wasn’t as negative as it was before. It doesn’t affect you in any negative way.”

Under a new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the players’ union, the league will no longer conduct drug screenings of players for marijuana. The agreement, which took effect earlier this month, also allows players to invest in cannabis companies –– something Durant and his business partners have done. 

“Marijuana will be removed from the Prohibited Substances List (‘PSL’),” the CBA reads. “A team that has reason to believe one of its players is under the influence of marijuana or alcohol while engaged in NBA or team-related activities, or has a dependency issue involving marijuana or alcohol, may refer the player to a required evaluation treatment program.”

The agreement also permits players to “invest in a company that makes products containing only CBD, and to “hold a passive, non-controlling interest in a company that makes products containing marijuana.” Players “will continue to be prohibited from promoting marijuana companies, but a player may promote a company that makes products containing only CBD,” the agreement says.

Durant recounted his meeting with Silver, saying the commissioner could readily pick up on his passion for the issue.

“Well, he smelled it when I walked in, so I ain’t really have to say much,” Durant said at the summit, drawing laughs from the crowd. “He kind of understood where this was going. And I mean, it’s the NBA, man. Everybody does it, to be honest. It’s like wine at this point.”

Durant, who was traded to the Suns from the Brooklyn Nets last season, has been open about his pot use in the past. 

In an interview last year on David Letterman’s Netflix series, Durant told the former late night legend that he was “high right now.”

“To me, it clears the distractions out of your brain a little bit. Settles you down. It’s like having a glass of wine,” Durant told Letterman, adding that he wanted to “change the narrative around athletes and marijuana.”

“It’s crazy that you got people in jail for 20 years for maybe selling a pound,” Durant said. 

The NBA first began phasing out marijuana testing for players in 2020, when it announced that it was suspending testing as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We decided that, given all the things that were happening in society, given all the pressures and stress that players were under, that we didn’t need to act as Big Brother right now,” Silver said at the time. “I think society’s views around marijuana have changed to a certain extent.”

Other sporting leagues have also relaxed their policies governing marijuana use. In 2019, Major League Baseball removed cannabis from its banned substances list. 

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) are helping to usher in a new era in sports and cannabis with a new, tentative deal. 

While the deal must still be ratified by players and team governors before it’s official, it’s looking like the NBA will not only remove cannabis from its banned substances list for players—it also plans to allow players to promote and invest in cannabis companies, as reported by The Athletic.

These new details emerge in a seven-year collective bargaining agreement that came together last weekend. The agreement would formally codify the league’s decision to temporarily suspend cannabis testing for the past three seasons, officially removing cannabis drug testing requirements for athletes. 

The NBA’s New Path Forward

The move is a long time coming. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver signaled back in 2020 that the Association’s temporary policies could one day become permanent after initially suspending cannabis testing.

“We decided that, given all the things that were happening in society, given all the pressures and stress that players were under, that we didn’t need to act as Big Brother right now,” Silver said at the time. “I think society’s views around marijuana has changed to a certain extent.”

In 2021, Weedmaps also announced its partnership with NBA star Kevin Durant, teaming up for a multi-year partnership aimed at destigmatizing cannabis and showcasing the plant’s potential in aiding “athlete wellness and recovery.”

While other professional sports leagues have steadily moved in a similar direction, the NBA stands apart with its aim to let players promote and invest in cannabis companies. The deal would also allow players to invest in NBA and WNBA teams as well as sign non-gambling endorsement deals with sports betting companies.

Reigniting the Conversation of Cannabis and Sports in the NBA

The conversation of cannabis and sports has reached new heights as the industry continues to grow. Retired athletes like Ricky Williams have opened up about their cannabis use and its benefits during their careers and beyond, especially as it relates to gameplay-related symptoms like chronic pain or achy joints. 

In a 2019 interview with High Times, Williams said the NFL is improving with its approach to cannabis, though he believed they could also do more.

“The NFL is a powerful corporation that carries a lot of clout, and if they did modify their approach more significantly, it could create a lot of change in the world,” Williams said.

Sha’Carri Richardson notably sparked renewed interest in cannabis policy in sports in 2021, after she was suspended and unable to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for testing positive for THC following the death of her mother. She’s said that she would feel “blessed and proud” if her story sparked broader policy change for other athletes.

The topic of cannabis and sports also came up in 2022 after U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner was detained in Russia over the possession of a THC vape.

As athletes continue to open up about their cannabis use as it relates to their health and wellness, research continues to affirm that cannabis and cannabinoid products have the potential to aid in athletic training and recovery, though more research is needed on the topic as a whole.

Progress for Cannabis in Sports

As the NBA takes the lead in this conversation, other major sporting leagues have steadily moved in a similar direction.

During the 2021 offseason, the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed on a change to the league’s cannabis policy. The updated policy says that players must test for cannabis just once a year, at the start of training camp. Previously, players who failed the test were subject to lengthy suspension, but now they are only subject to a fine.

In 2022, the NFL also authorized $1 million in grants for two studies that would examine the efficacy of cannabis and its compounds to manage pain in football players and provide neuroprotection from concussions.

MLB has also taken a more progressive stance in the last several years. In 2020, it clarified that players would not be punished for using cannabis, just a few months after removing cannabis from its list of banned substances. Prior to the change, players who tested positive for THC were referred to mandatory treatment, and those who failed to comply faced a fine of up to $35,000.

In 2021, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced it would no longer punish fighters for positive cannabis tests.

The official NBPA Twitter account shared the news release announcing the tentative deal on April 1, which confirms that “specific details will be made available once a term sheet is finalized.”

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