The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports is highly regulated and athletes risk their entire legacies by indulging in their use of them.
Former UFC Middleweight title contender and ESPN MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has alleged that LeBron James uses PED, specifically EPO to continue his playing career.
“If the world understood what LeBron did. Other basketball players will hear about what LeBron does and go ‘that doesn’t matter’. If you knew what these performance enhancers did, you’d know it does matter. We have the same drug guy, I know exactly what he’s doing… EPO matters, it’s the reason LeBron takes it. EPO increases your red blood cells which gives you the endurance to play all game long. It’s the king of performance enhancers. EPO is the king. That’s why cyclists do it.”
Chael Sonnen claims Lebron James takes PEDs. “We have the same drug guy, I know exactly what he takes”.
( via Flagrant 2 podcast) pic.twitter.com/EDnCHatxhX
— Jo (@MavsStan41) March 8, 2023
Erythropoietin is more commonly referred to as EPO and is administered via blood doping. It slows the progression of muscle fatigue and increases endurance. It was the drug that disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong used in his career.
Sonnen himself has been busted for using PEDs in his career, as were many other fighters of his era. Making an accusation like that against LeBron James without solid proof is not responsible, and if there’s any meat to this, proof needs to be shown. The NBA administers blood doping tests, as Damian Lillard recently found out.
Could LeBron James Be On PEDs?
LeBron is a genuine athletic marvel that the NBA or even sports has not seen before. He has maintained his body in a way we have never seen any other basketball player do before to continue playing at the highest level of the sport for 20 years. He recently broke the all-time scoring record, and his longevity has been key to it.
It’s easy to dismiss the hard work that James has put in to ensure his body could last as long as it has. His increase in injuries over the last few years shows that he’s clearly being affected by age. He may still be a top-10 player, but he’s a relative shadow of the player he used to be even in 2013 when he was one of the most dominant athletes in the world.
The last PED-related suspension in the NBA was handed to Deandre Ayton in the 2019-20 season, suspending the center for 25 games. However, Ayton got into trouble for having water tablets (diuretics) and not a case of blood doping, as Sonnen is alleging LeBron is doing.
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