Lakers News: ESPN Insider Accuses LeBron James Of Using Performance Enhancers

The ageless wonder remains spectacular even in Year 20.

Is LeBron James 'roiding?

UFC Middleweight fighter-turned-ESPN MMA analyst Chael Sonnen made that pretty stunning accusation about the Los Angeles Lakers superstar small forward during a new conversation on the Flagrant 2 podcast with hosts Akaash Singh, Andrew Schulz, AlexxMedia, and Mark Gagnon.

Chael Sonnen claims Lebron James takes PEDs. “We have the same drug guy, I know exactly what he takes”.

( via Flagrant 2 podcast) pic.twitter.com/EDnCHatxhX

— Jo (@MavsStan41) March 8, 2023

"Other basketball players will hear about what LeBron does and go, 'That doesn't matter.' If you knew what these performance enhancers did, you'd know it does matter. We have the same drug guy, I know exactly what he's doing," Sonnen claimed. 

"EPO [Erythropoietin] matters, it's the reason LeBron takes it. It matters. EPO increases your red blood cells, which gives you the endurance to play all game long... It's the king of performance enhancers. EPO is king to everything. That's why cyclists do it."

Sonnen has conceded that he himself used EPO and Human Growth Hormone in the past.

Here is the episode in full:

The NBA does conduct random blood tests in an effort to detect steroid use in its players, and apparently has been pretty proactive in doing so when its players have particularly impressive nights, as Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell both found out this year.

Performance enhancing drugs are uniquely designed to help with recovery in between games, which makes this writer skeptical James actually is using it, given the myriad injuries that have forced him to miss 20+ games a year in four of his five Lakers seasons. Granted, he was remarkably durable through his first 15 NBA seasons, but he's also just a natural athletic super-freak.

When healthy, the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer has had a typically productive All-Star caliber year. Across 47 contests, James is averaging 29.5 points on 50.1% field goal shooting, 8.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 0.9 steals.

Sonnen also accuses 15-time major champion Tiger Woods of using performance enhancing substances in the same conversation, which feels fairly credible given that we already know one of his (many) doctors, Dr. Anthony Galea, was once caught bringing illegal PEDs stateside from Toronto.

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