RealGM

eyeatoma wrote:

LuisArMo73 wrote:

og15 wrote:
Good point, love it. I can't factually answer any of those questions as I'm not on the inside of any of this. I can give you my guess.

I do believe that the NBA like other sports competition organizations have medical exemptions for use of corticosteroids. Steroids are used in treatment of asthma too for example, as well as some autoimmune diseases, so I'm pretty sure there's exemptions made for health vs a player just taking something for a performance boost.

If other sports organizations do it, it would be odd that the NBA would be like sorry guy with IBS, allergies or asthma, you can't play.

While players medical records are made available based on sports related injuries, the doctors aren't supposed to publicly tell everyone about everything players are being treated with. They would report to the NBA and ask for exemptions as needed though.

Yeah, I cannot give a definitive answer either, since I don't know the inner working of the NBA, that's why I would love if someone who knew about it could clarify a little about it. Obviously, the doctors who gave him treatment won't tell (they could be sued), what I wonder is why I haven't seen anybody outside questioning it.

Thing with steroids is, it depends on the route of administration since only systemic steroids have a physical enhancing benefit. So pathologies like asthma, treated with inhaled steroids, which don't reach the blood or do so in very little amounts, are allowed. Also, the prohibition is only during competition, that's why many injured athletes get cortisone shots and it's not a deal. The WADA actually has a list with every drug prohibited and details like this. You can check it out here: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/2024list_en_final_22_september_2023.pdf

In cases with pathologies like allergies or IBS that need systemic steroids what usually happens is that if the flare is severe enough that they need steroids, they probably cannot play at that moment, and since corticosteroids have a very short clearance time (like 3 days) by the time they are ready to play they should be outside the prohibition window.

Problem I see with Embiid's case is that standard treatment is high dose of prednisone (we are talking 5-10 times usual dose for a pathology like rheumatoid arthritis) during at least a week if not more. So if he's taking it, it's for sure enhancing his physical performance, assuming he started after the play-in game, for at least 3 games.

Now, I agree with you that the NBA is most likely aware and there's some kind of exemption being issued, (specially since nobody seems to be reacting to the possibility), what I'm not sure is if it's something that should be allowed considering the benefit likely outweighs the cons in sports in this particular case (enhanced performance, which by the way probably improves his knee condition, with a trade-off that consists of drooling, tearing, reduced feeling sensation and pain in half your face at worst). If it was the Olympics I would say he most likely wouldn't be able to play right now and would have to wait for treatment to end.

PS: his behavior last game could also be explained by high dose corticosteroids, since one of its side effectes consists on higher irritability and mania/hypomania, both of which might have to do with his reckless play.

Interesting, could they also just not take it, given that it's not allowed? From my understanding it's supposed to naturally go away.

LuisArMo73 wrote:

eyeatoma wrote:

LuisArMo73 wrote:
Yeah, I cannot give a definitive answer either, since I don't know the inner working of the NBA, that's why I would love if someone who knew about it could clarify a little about it. Obviously, the doctors who gave him treatment won't tell (they could be sued), what I wonder is why I haven't seen anybody outside questioning it.

Thing with steroids is, it depends on the route of administration since only systemic steroids have a physical enhancing benefit. So pathologies like asthma, treated with inhaled steroids, which don't reach the blood or do so in very little amounts, are allowed. Also, the prohibition is only during competition, that's why many injured athletes get cortisone shots and it's not a deal. The WADA actually has a list with every drug prohibited and details like this. You can check it out here: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/2024list_en_final_22_september_2023.pdf

In cases with pathologies like allergies or IBS that need systemic steroids what usually happens is that if the flare is severe enough that they need steroids, they probably cannot play at that moment, and since corticosteroids have a very short clearance time (like 3 days) by the time they are ready to play they should be outside the prohibition window.

Problem I see with Embiid's case is that standard treatment is high dose of prednisone (we are talking 5-10 times usual dose for a pathology like rheumatoid arthritis) during at least a week if not more. So if he's taking it, it's for sure enhancing his physical performance, assuming he started after the play-in game, for at least 3 games.

Now, I agree with you that the NBA is most likely aware and there's some kind of exemption being issued, (specially since nobody seems to be reacting to the possibility), what I'm not sure is if it's something that should be allowed considering the benefit likely outweighs the cons in sports in this particular case (enhanced performance, which by the way probably improves his knee condition, with a trade-off that consists of drooling, tearing, reduced feeling sensation and pain in half your face at worst). If it was the Olympics I would say he most likely wouldn't be able to play right now and would have to wait for treatment to end.

PS: his behavior last game could also be explained by high dose corticosteroids, since one of its side effectes consists on higher irritability and mania/hypomania, both of which might have to do with his reckless play.

Interesting, could they also just not take it, given that it's not allowed? From my understanding it's supposed to naturally go away.

Yeah, it usually does go away, but not always and some nerve damage might remain. Corticosteroids have proven to help reduce inflamation during the acute phase and to limit the possibility of permanent nerve damage. He could not be taking them, but then I would say he's not being properly treated and it's risky.

og15 wrote:

PhilBlackson wrote:I know how hard it would be to essentially give up on the season but between seeing him hobbling up & down, wearing shades everywhere and now half his face isn’t responding…especially with how incredibly unlikely he is to make all the way through a championship run - at some point you gotta look out for the player the way a corner looks out for a boxer.

I'm not aware of any contraindications to physical activity because of Bell's Palsy. It self resolves, just takes time which differs from person to person, but I can't imagine why it would contribute to a reason to shut a player down.

SNPA wrote:

JT3000 wrote:

SNPA wrote:This Dr has examined him?

Way to miss the point completely.

Yeah. One of us is missing it.

madskillz8 wrote:

og15 wrote:

PhilBlackson wrote:I know how hard it would be to essentially give up on the season but between seeing him hobbling up & down, wearing shades everywhere and now half his face isn’t responding…especially with how incredibly unlikely he is to make all the way through a championship run - at some point you gotta look out for the player the way a corner looks out for a boxer.

I'm not aware of any contraindications to physical activity because of Bell's Palsy. It self resolves, just takes time which differs from person to person, but I can't imagine why it would contribute to a reason to shut a player down.

I was about to write the same thing and seeing your post quoted in the last page saved me 5 minutes.

Then, I spent 4 minutes to find your original post for giving +1 and spend 2 more minutes to write this post...

SNPA wrote:Let’s all play nice in this thread please. Serious accusation has been made, but it’s not a permanent condition usually.