Steve Kerr struggled so badly with nausea and headaches - the result of back surgery complications - at the start of last season that he couldn't do his job, ceding Golden State Warriors head-coaching duties to Luke Walton for the first 43 games.
As he dealt with the unrelenting pain and discomfort, Kerr says he sought relief in alternative remedies, including marijuana.
"I guess maybe I can even get in some trouble for this, but I've actually tried it twice during the last year and a half, when I've been going through this chronic pain that I've been dealing with," Kerr told CSN's Monte Poole in a Friday appearance on The Warriors Insider Podcast.
"(After) a lot of research, a lot of advice from people, and I have no idea if maybe I would have failed a drug test. I don't even know if I'm subject to a drug test or any laws from the NBA."
NBA players are subject to four random drug tests throughout the season. Under the league's policy, a player caught with pot in his system for the first time is forced to complete a substance-abuse treatment program. A second infraction comes with a $25,000 fine, the third a five-game suspension, and the fourth a 10-game suspension, with an additional five games tacked onto that for every positive test thereafter.
Kerr said that while he doesn't personally enjoy the drug, he feels it's less damaging to the body than the painkillers leagues prescribe their players instead. He specifically cited the NFL, which has a more stringent marijuana policy than the NBA.
"I'm not a pot person; it doesn't agree with me," Kerr said. "I've tried it a few times, and it did not agree with me at all. So I'm not the expert on this stuff. But I do know this: If you're an NFL player, in particular, and you've got a lot of pain, I don't think there is any question that pot is better for your body than Vicodin. And yet athletes everywhere are prescribed Vicodin like it’s Vitamin C, like it's no big deal. ...
"It's way worse for you than pot, especially if you're looking for a painkiller and you're talking about medicinal marijuana, the different strains what they're able to do with it as a pain reliever.
"I think it's only a matter of time before the NBA and NFL and Major League Baseball realize that."
