The legal use of marijuana, whether it be medicinally or recreationally, is gaining steam in the NBA.

First, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted last week to using legally prescribed marijuana during his recovery from a 2015 back surgery, questioning how a league could encourage prescription painkiller use for players healing from injury while listing marijuana among its banned substances.

Now, New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has followed Kerr’s admission with tales of recreational marijuana use during his own recovery from back surgery as a player in 1969, suggesting the recent legalization of cannabis in several states will force the NBA to address a rule now in conflict with law.

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In an appearance on CBS Sports Network’s “We Need to Talk” on Tuesday, during which he touched on several subjects, including a non-apology for his controversial “posse” remarks on LeBron James, Jackson was asked about Kerr’s recent comments on marijuana. This was his response, in its entirety:

“I don’t know about its medicinal ability. I know that when I had back surgery, the year I was off I was smoking marijuana during that period of time. I think it was a distraction for me as much as a pain reliever, but I never thought of it as ultimately a pain medication for that type of situation. I know for ocular things, stomach digestive issues and other things I think it is regarded quite highly. “We’re in a situation that’s in flux. We have states — Washington, D.C., Colorado — that have legalized marijuana. Those are going to raise issues. We also have a testing regiment that we go through in the NBA, so we’re kind of in conflict with what is going to be the law. I see that as a decision that’s — I don’t know if we can equate it to gay marriage or whatever else — but it’s a decision that’s going to be made by our population at some point. They’re going to come out and make that decision for us, I think, instead of legislators trying to make the decision. “I think we’ve tried to stop it in the NBA. I don’t think we’ve been able to stop it. I think it still goes on and is still a part of their culture in the NBA, and I think it’s something we either have to accommodate or we have to figure out another way to deal with it.”

As others have noted, Jackson already discussed his 1960s and ’70s marijuana and LSD use in both his 1975 autobiography, “Maverick,” and 2001 biography, “Mindgames: Phil Jackson’s Long Strange Journey,” weighing perceived mind-altering benefits of such substances against the inherent dangers.

View photos Phil Jackson admitted to using marijuana while recovering from injury as a player in 1969. (Getty Images) More

Jackson did not elaborate on any potential personal marijuana use after the 1969-70 season, when he missed the entirety of New York’s championship campaign following spinal fusion surgery, but he did suggest marijuana was still prevalent among today’s players. In 1997, when Jackson and Kerr’s Chicago Bulls were in the midst of winning six titles, The New York Times famously reported roughly 60-70 percent of the league smoked marijuana, and that number may be higher now, if Jay Williams’ 75-80 percent estimate this past May is accurate. In other words, marijuana is not a new issue for the NBA.

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According to the 2011 collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players’ association, all players are subject to as many as six tests per year, randomly scheduled by a third-party entity — four during the season from October 1 to June 30 and two more in the offseason months between.

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