Get High and Go Hoop

A lot of people get high and spend the rest of their day on the couch. Others get high and defend some of basketball's most prolific scorers.

Matt Barnes, perhaps one of the biggest stoners to ever play in the NBA, recently sat down with PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT to discuss marijuana's prevalence in the league, its potential as a performance enhancing drug, and how it helped him as an athlete.

"I remember at one point they told me more than half the league was in the program from cannabis. Half the league. 250-plus guys." Barnes said, talking about the NBA's drug program.

Now, most people associate marijuana with the munchies, red eyes, and general laziness. Literally, think Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Yet, we know athletes aren't lazy. Matt Barnes is no Spicoli. So, recreational purposes aside, why are they using it? How does marijuana help athletes? Is it a performance-enhancing drug?

Marijuana: The magical herb for hoopers

Smoking marijuana. Blowing boof. Puffing on zooties. It’s a practice that 85% of NBA players engage in, according to Al Harrington, former NBA player turned cannabis entrepreneur. Though, most people wouldn’t light up before their day job. So the question is - why do NBA players? Well, for a couple reasons.

First of all, it helps to repair your body.

"I wouldn't say cannabis directly makes you better from an enhancement standpoint," Barnes says. So, no, you will not automatically be able to dunk after smoking a blunt. Barnes did however agree that, "It enhances your play because you get a great night's sleep. It helps with inflammation."

My joints hurt after playing 2.5 pickup games on a Friday afternoon against ex-high-school varsity athletes. So...think about the wear and tear on your knees, hips, and back that comes along with playing 82 games against the best basketball players on the planet.

Basically, in a preventative, rehabilitative sense, yes, weed can potentially improve performance. While it's clear marijuana has a proven ability to mend physical pain associated with the sport, could there be more cerebral benefits we hoopers have overlooked all along?

In the league, Barnes' job was to guard the best players. Barnes' scouting process? To get high and watch film. Barnes talked about the benefits of watching Kobe's game film baked out of his mind. "I'm high so I'm tuned into his moves,” he said. “I know his rhythm, I know when he takes two dribbles right, he's going to stop and shot fake and get me up in the air...you know? So I'm locked in."

Think about it like when you get high and watch a movie, you can almost peel back the curtain and see the actors as actors and not just the characters they're portraying. Matt Barnes is doing the same thing, but with basketball.

This corresponds with what Andrew Huberman, every bro's favorite neuroscientist and podcaster, discusses on his HubermanLab podcast. While we know marijuana is a depressant by nature, Huberman says marijuana, especially sativa varieties, can act as a stimulant. In fact, it can even increase/narrow our sense of focus. In addition, Huberman explained how marijuana users are able to think more creatively.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s all situational. It’s all case-by-case. And, yeah, you’re right, that’s true. But, at the end of the day, isn't basketball really all about focus and creativity?

I am in no way an NBA athlete. But, as someone who doesn't drink alcohol, marijuana is practically my only vice. I smoke most days, usually after 5:00pm, and usually right after I return from the gym. Basically, Torres' interview made me wonder.

Am I doing this all wrong? Did I accidentally rob myself of possible NBA potential by getting high after I hooped instead of before?

The journalist in me wants to take a few edibles before I play pickup at the gym next week and report back my findings. But…

We’ll see.