--- title: NBA Will Begin Testing Players for HGH Next Season description: The testing will begin next season. canonical: https://time.com/3825898/nba-hgh-testing/ author: Sports Illustrated article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-16T21:22:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:27:53.259Z article:section: Sports og:title: NBA Will Begin Testing Players for HGH Next Season og:description: The testing will begin next season og:url: https://time.com/3825898/nba-hgh-testing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt594fd157b27a2390/6987eb9be20a87bfc6a88f0b/469595234-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a press conference in New York City on April 13, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NBA Will Begin Testing Players for HGH Next Season twitter:description: The testing will begin next season twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt594fd157b27a2390/6987eb9be20a87bfc6a88f0b/469595234-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NBA Will Begin Testing Players for HGH Next Season by [Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated](https://time.com/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated Apr 16, 2015 9:22 PM UTC  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a press conference in New York City on April 13, 2015. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a press conference in New York City on April 13, 2015.Alex Goodlett—Getty Images by [Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated](https://time.com/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated Apr 16, 2015 9:22 PM UTC The NBA will begin testing players for human growth hormone, the league [announced Thursday](http://www.nba.com/2015/news/04/16/nba-and-nbpa-to-introduce-hgh-blood-testing/?ls=iref:nbahpts). Testing will begin next season and players will be subject to three random, unannounced tests each year, in addition to “reasonable cause testing,” the NBA said. Two of the three tests will be administered during the season and one will be done in the offseason. Players will be suspended 20 games for their first positive test and 45 games for a second failed test. A third violation results in banishment from the league. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in [an interview with _GQ_](http://www.gq.com/moty/2014/adam-silver-rookie-of-the-year) in November that instituting HGH testing was a priority. Testing for HGH was introduced by the NFL in 2014 and by MLB in 2013\. The World Anti-Doping Agency, which handles Olympic testing, first began testing for HGH at the 2006 Torino Games. Dallas [Mavericks](http://www.si.com/nba/team/dallas-mavericks) owner Mark Cuban [told _USA Today_ in 2013](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/11/24/mark-cuban-hgh-human-growth-hormone-legalize-david-stern-bud-selig/3692783/) that the NBA should consider allowing HGH use as a means to help players more quickly recover from injuries. _This_ [_article_](http://www.si.com/nba/2015/04/16/nba-hgh-drug-testing-peds) _originally appeared on_ [_SI.com_](http://www.si.com)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3825898/nba-hgh-testing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3825898/nba-hgh-testing/"},"headline":"NBA Will Begin Testing Players for HGH Next Season","datePublished":"2015-04-16T21:22:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:27:53.259Z","description":"Three violations will result in banishment from the league","url":"https://time.com/3825898/nba-hgh-testing/","keywords":["Basketball","NBA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt594fd157b27a2390/6987eb9be20a87bfc6a88f0b/469595234-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt594fd157b27a2390/6987eb9be20a87bfc6a88f0b/469595234-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a press conference in New York City on April 13, 2015.","caption":"NBA Commissioner Adam Silver during a press conference in New York City on April 13, 2015.","creditText":"Alex Goodlett—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/basketball/","name":"Basketball"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3825898/nba-hgh-testing/","name":"NBA Will Begin Testing Players for HGH Next Season"}}]}] ```