Stephen Jackson Says Former Coach Don Nelson Knew He Smoked Weed Before Games

Across society at large, opinions on marijuana use have changed. In many states it’s become legal for recreational use. Both the NFL and NBA have weed listed as a banned substance and test it’s players for use. Former NBA player and current analyst Stephen Jackson recently shared a story about how a former coach Don Nelson, knew his team was blowing trees and celebrated with them once they cleared their fourth random drug test.

“Nobody knows this story, so this is the first time somebody is hearing this. We’re in Utah and the drug test people are around, you know, to get our last drug test so we can smoke, right? Don Nelson, we talked about weed all the time, he was cool with talking about weed. We got our last test in Utah, right? So me and Baron are coming out the locker room just screaming, excited with our last pink slip saying we could smoke for the rest of the season and Don Nelson hauls ass down there giving us hi-fives like, “yeah, we can smoke now!” It was cool, the fact that he knows what’s going on off the court with his players, which was great man. We enjoyed it. That’s why we were a great team.”

What if BD didn’t want the world to know he puffed? Jackson also added that he had played high before, and shared what that experience was like.

“I can’t speak for nobody else. Me personally, I’ve done a lot of shit before games sometimes and still was able to go out there and be productive. I just gotta be real, you know, it’s been a couple games where I smoked before games and had great games. It’s been some games where I smoked before the game and was on the bench after three minutes sitting on the sideline, ‘please calm down, this high has to calm down,’ I done shot three shots that went over the backboard, like, I’m going to be honest, like ‘ahh, I gotta calm down.’”

I’ve had several NBA players tell me they play better high, but not everything is for everyone.