Saw an excellent documentary about the PED explosion from steroids to HGH and others in mid 80's. It focused on track athletes in general and Carl Lewis & Ben Johnson specifically from the 84 to the 88 Olympics. It was not who was doing it, it was a time where who was not doing it.

So in honor of MJordan's 50th birthday as a reminder of the Nike-ESPN hype machine, was MJ a beneficiary of the PED era? He did become larger physically and overshadowed his competition a la Barry Bonds in baseball in mid 90's. He showed quick physical recovery several times in his career.

Most athletes from the late-70's through mid-90's seems to get a pass. This has been an issue for decades, and yes, it stretches back to the 70's.

Michael Jordan is a reprehensible piece of gutter scum and cheat who would do anything to gain a competitive edge. He also has no morals and was schooled at the most fraudulent institution in America. The man literally has no redeeming human qualities and has done nothing to help anyone despite having the wealth and influence to do much.

**** him.

Wow, I am no MJ apologist, not by a long shot... but this thread is pretty inflammatory.

MJ is turning 50?!? who knew?   

as much as I hate MJ and all things *unc cheat he's the best NBA player ever regardless of what he may or may not have done...

MJ bet on basketball and was suspended by the NBA for a year. Does anybody really think it was his idea to play minor league baseball for exactly one year?

Frontcourt players in the late 80s especially became much more heavily muscled and weighing 230-240+. Kevin Willis & Alonzo Mourning come to mind but there were many others.

Of course there's no proof other than the eye test and I suppose it could have just been protein powder or creatine, but those guys were pretty ripped and stayed like that into their late 30s/early 40s.

I think Mourning even had to have a kidney transplant due to glomerulosclerosis . . . which has been shown to be an effect of long-term steroid use. No idea if that was the case for him, but seems suspicious.

Jordan just beat Michael Kidd Gilchrist in a game of one on one. I ouwldnt be surprised if half of the NBA used it for recovery purposes. It is known that the Steelers Dynasty of the 70`s used heavily. It was seen as a major reason for the implosion of Mike Webster.

glasswolf wrote: as much as I hate MJ and all things *unc cheat he's the best NBA player ever regardless of what he may or may not have done...

No, he's not.  The "best" might be Chamberlain, or Bill Russell, but it's not MJ.  He is ONE of the best, but not THE best.  Both Russell and Chamberlain played before there PEDs, so that is another reason to rank them highly.

Tom Gugliotta almost died from taking a post-game over the counter supplement.

If he had been on plane instead of bus and they were not able to get him to hospital as fast as they did, he would have died.

I pretty much assume everyone was using them in all sports for the last 20 years. Just look at Scottie Pippen. He went from 170 to 180 seemingly overnight.

JNWolf wrote: He went from 170 to 180 seemingly overnight.

who here has not gone to Bojangles and done the same thing?

---------------------------------------------
--- JNWolf wrote:

I pretty much assume everyone was using them in all sports for the last 20 years. Just look at Scottie Pippen. He went from 170 to 180 seemingly overnight.

---------------------------------------------

That happens with age. It's easier to gain weight when you get up near 30 than it is in your early 20's. 10lbs is nothing.

Engineer65 wrote:

glasswolf wrote: as much as I hate MJ and all things *unc cheat he's the best NBA player ever regardless of what he may or may not have done...

No, he's not.  The "best" might be Chamberlain, or Bill Russell, but it's not MJ.  He is ONE of the best, but not THE best.  Both Russell and Chamberlain played before there PEDs, so that is another reason to rank them highly.

You sound just like the Carolina fans who dispute that Thompson was the best college player (which he was).

Deal with it........MJ is the best NBA player since the league formed.

---------------------------------------------
--- wolfer79 wrote:

JNWolf wrote: He went from 170 to 180 seemingly overnight.

who here has not gone to Bojangles and done the same thing?

---------------------------------------------

Especially with all the free Boberry biscuits the Canes are providing

There was a huge scandal involving the University of South Carolina football program and steriods in the mid to late '80's. Sports Illustrated did a pretty extensive story on it at the time.

Quick, to the Hatmobile. What was MJ's hat size when he was a rookie for the Bulls and what was it when he played for the Barons and what was it when he came back?

I took steroids in the middle 80's. Got them from our football players. I guess they weren't testing then.

I've seen some on the FB take them in the late 70's also....

roperatchet1 wrote: I took steroids in the middle 80's. Got them from our football players. I guess they weren't testing then.

Alvin Roy brought steriods to sports in the 50's (?) and 60's. Here's a look at his work with Billy Cannon (Heisman) and then the LSU football teams in the 50's (National Champs in '58).

www.la84foundation.org/SportsL...01/IGH0201f.pdf

One of the main points from that article should be the prevailing wisdom of weightlifting and big-muscles back then. It was discouraged in all sports. Football was the first to disparage that belief, but for other sports (baseball, basketball, golf, etc...), that belief continued for decades more.

After LSU, Roy went on to work in professional football. Here's a very good article on the AFL's San Diego Chargers first camp with Roy as it's strength coach.

sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=3866837

Roy later worked on staffs for the Chiefs, Cowboys and Raiders.

The NFL organization that most credit with making steroid use considered to be a valuable tool is the 70's Steelers. Chuck Noll worked with the Chargers during Roy's stint, so he knew of it's benefits. After being named HC of the Steelers, Noll hired his strength coach, who trained under Roy.

The fall of the Soviet Union created the most recent wave of PED use in sports in the West. They were better at it than us and by that time the myth that adding muscle would hurt you in some sports was gone.

For the original poster's claim, no clue if MJ took PED's. Doubt it, because I don't believe PED use in basketball is/was prominent, but who knows for sure.

roperatchet1 wrote: I took steroids in the middle 80's. Got them from our football players. I guess they weren't testing then.

Oh they tested back then, I had a player late for a class once, the instructor Mr Petrea started in on him and asked why he was late.  The kid told him drug test, Mr. Petrea nodded sympathetically.

___________________________________________________________________
My heroes have always been plowboys