The Cleveland Cavaliers probably were feeling pretty low after their 132-113 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, but not everyone in their locker room was.
Media who entered the Cavs’ locker room at Oracle Arena after Sunday night’s game reported smelling marijuana, though none claimed to know where exactly it came from. One of those reporters was The Undefeated’s Mike Wise, who acknowledged there were a lot of people in the locker room and it wasn’t necessarily a player.
Cavs locker room has a strong reefer aroma to it tonight. Hey, it's Cali. You're down 2-0 and it's all about pain control. #NBAFinals
— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) June 5, 2017
To be clear, I don't know who was imbibing marijuana in the Cavs locker room — media that entered, player, etc. But it wasn't a dead skunk
— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) June 5, 2017
I grew up in Northern California and Hawaii. I know what cannabis smells like. Coulda been a cameraman, reporter, whatever. I'm not judging.
— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) June 5, 2017
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirmed on “First Take” on Tuesday that the locker room did smell like weed, but he and Jalen Rose both agreed no one thought it was a big deal. Windhorst said it mostly gave reporters a laugh, and Rose pointed out that because marijuana is legal in Cailfornia, it’s no different than going out to dinner and having a glass of wine or another drink after the game.
As for its legality in the NBA, it’s unlikely anything will come of this despite the fact that marijuana is banned in the league. For starters, there’s really no way of knowing who the source was unless anyone comes forward, so there’s no reason to suspect it was a player or NBA employee. The NBA also randomly drug tests players four times throughout the season, and we’re going to assume they finish those tests before the Finals when most players already are in offseason mode. The league doesn’t test players during the offseason.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said back in 2014 that he’s more concerned about testing for performance-enhancing drugs, so the league probably won’t lose too much sleep over not knowing the identity of the weed smoker.
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
