Mark Cuban: NBA should discuss allowing HGH use

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

In the wake of the NBA's latest round of injuries to fallen stars, always-outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is proposing a possible solution: human growth hormone.

Cuban isn't advocating the use of the controversial drug but rather calling attention to what he sees as a dearth of research on the topic as it relates to athletes who are recovering from injury. His hope, which he shared in front of the league's owners and league officials at an Oct. 23 Board of Governors meeting in New York, is that a more-informed decision can be made as to whether it should remain on the league's banned-substance list or perhaps be utilized as a way of expediting an athlete's return to the court. If it were ever allowed — and it's safe to say that won't be happening anytime soon — Cuban sees a major benefit for teams and their fans like.

"The issue isn't whether I think it should be used," Cuban told USA TODAY Sports via e-mail. "The issue is that it has not been approved for such use. And one of the reasons it hasn't been approved is that there have not been studies done to prove the benefits of prescribing HGH for athletic rehabilitation or any injury rehabilitation that I'm aware of. The product has such a huge (public) stigma that no one wants to be associated with it."

Cuban, who unsuccessfully has tried to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Texas Rangers in recent years, hinted at his stance on HGH in an Aug. 8 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In the interview, he criticized Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig for his treatment of New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez and said HGH is "banned for no good reason" in baseball and basketball.

From the NBA's perspective, the most obvious hurdle to such a cause is that the Food & Drug Administration only allows the prescription of HGH for a limited number of conditions. According to the FDA's web site, children with various medical reasons for stunted growth can be prescribed HGH, as can adults with a bowel syndrome, a hormone deficiency due to rare pituitary tumors or a muscle-wasting disease associating with HIV.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency's web site, HGH is illegal to use for anti-aging, improved athletic performance and bodybuilding. The World Anti-Doping Agency also has HGH on its list of prohibited substances.

The NBA also is sensitive to the ethical part of the discussion, as the idea that some players would return from injury sooner than others because they were willing to take a drug that may have adverse side effects raises serious concerns about maintaining a level playing field. The possible side effects, according to the FDA, include an increased risk of cancer, nerve pain and elevated cholesterol and glucose levels. If anything, the NBA is moving closer to cracking down on HGH use of any kind.

While NBA Commissioner David Stern had said that he was hopeful that a new HGH-testing policy would be in place at the start of the 2013-14 season, the discussions between the league and the National Basketball Players Association are in a holding pattern, in large part because of the continuing stalemate between the NFL and its players about the implementation of their program. The NFL is the trailblazer of sorts on that front, meaning the NBA policy isn't expected to be resolved first. The NBA declined a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports. The union's lack of an executive director after Billy Hunter's firing in February also has hindered the process.

As Cuban sees it, though, none of the obstacles should preclude the powers-that-be in the sports world from pursuing more definitive answers about the pros and cons of HGH.

"I believe that professional sports leagues should work together and fund studies to determine the efficacy of HGH for rehabbing an injury," Cuban told USA TODAY Sports. "Working together could lead us from the path of demonizing HGH and even testosterone towards a complete understanding. It could allow us to make a data based decision rather than the emotional decision we are currently making. And if it can help athletes recover more quickly, maybe we can extend careers and have healthier happier players and fans."