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Cuban advocates for HGH as tool for injury recovery

Mitchell Leff / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks the NBA should no longer suspend its players for using human growth hormone.

Cuban outlined on Twitter his desire for HGH to be more widely recognized as a tool to help with injury recovery for athletes. He elaborated Friday on why the league should change its approach toward the substance.

"The reason (HGH) was barred was because the (World Anti-Doping Agency) ... they banned it. There was really no research or complete logic for doing it," Cuban said during an interview on "ESPN's The Jump."

"So a couple of years ago, I said, 'Look, if there's no data there to dismiss HGH, let's find out if it can help for injury recovery because it's been discussed as having that ability,'" Cuban added. "So I worked with the University of Michigan and we put together a study, and as it turns out ... there was a significant improvement in their recovery time and getting back to full strength."

Based on the league's current rules, players who are caught with HGH in their system are punished significantly for violating the NBA's anti-drug program.

Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins was suspended 25 games earlier this season for testing positive for growth hormone-releasing peptide-2. Brooklyn Nets swingman Wilson Chandler was also handed a 25-game suspension in August after the Ipamorelin peptide was found in his system.

"Hopefully the NBA, the Olympics, and other leagues will look at this and say, 'Let's do some more studies,'" Cuban said. "I'm willing to get involved with more studies financially, but if we can get the leagues to do it, I think the players also will all be for it as long as you can prove that it's safe."

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