By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant announced a partnership and sponsorship deal with cannabis marketplace Weedmaps on Thursday and he also hopes that the way marijuana is perceived, especially in relation to athletes, will change.
“I think it’s far past time to address the stigmas around cannabis that still exist in the sports world as well as globally,” Durant told ESPN. “This partnership is going to help us continue to normalize those conversations, as well as create content, events, and a lot more through our Boardroom media network. This is just the beginning for us.”
Weedmaps doesn’t directly sell marijuana but is an e-commerce platform that guides users to dispensaries. Durant declined to directly discuss personal marijuana usage.
Marijuana remains banned by the NBA but exists in a decriminalized gray area. League rules currently require four random tests for marijuana per year but those tests were informally halted when the league re-started in the Orlando bubble in 2020 and then didn’t return in the 2020-21 season.
Per ESPN, the league office and player’s union told there is an ongoing dialogue about marijuana but there are currently no concrete plans to formally change the rule.