Rashard Lewis suspended for PED violation

The Orlando Sentinel reported today Rashard Lewis has been suspended by the NBA for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The 6-10 forward will miss the first 10 games of the season without pay.

The Sentinel says Lewis tested positive for a substance known as DHEA, a testosterone booster found in several over the counter nutritional supplements (and completely legal in the US and even legal in baseball, but banned by the NBA). Lewis said it was an honest mistake and apologized for it while accepting the consequences.

There are so many thoughts running through my mind.

First was, "Oh great, now Cavs fans will be putting an asterisk on our Eastern Conference championship." Thus "The Curse" tag. Luckily respected beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brian Windhorst, does not believe in such things as asterisks.

With baseball constantly going insane over steroids and performance enhancing drugs, that was the next place I went. I remember during those infamous Senate hearings, Senators going after David Stern for the NBA's lax punishments for taking performance-enhancing drugs. I guess Orlando should be thanking that for Lewis' seemingly paltry 10-game suspension.

But at that time, I thought, steroids aren't needed in the NBA. Muscles don't necessarily help you -- especially a shooter. It can throw off your shot or whatever.

Then we all became more educated about steroids and how they are actually used. Yes, they can be used to improve strength and change physical appearance. But they are more commonly used to quickly recover from workouts and injury.

We all know entering the postseason that Lewis was struggling with knee tendonitis issues. He missed a few games to rest the knee. Is it that hard to believe that he took the nutritional supplement -- knowing or not knowing it had a banned substance -- to help him recover from that injury?

My big question is why he was taking this supplement and whether it was because of that injury. My next question is how do you not check the label?

This excuse has been used before by other people caught for violating PED policies and I believe Lewis honestly did not know what was going on, but it is ridiculous for a guy getting paid nearly $17 million a year not to know what he is putting in his body when his body is his living.

One thing I have learned from all the steroids hullabaloo in baseball is that over the counter stuff is not safe from drug-testing policies. This stuff is not always necessarily FDA approved as a Sports Illustrated article a few months back revealed.

It certainly raises a question, whether you believe Lewis' story or not. But there is some evidence to make you think he was in a rush to recover for Orlando's playoff run.

The final thing I thought of is what this will mean for the Magic at the beginning of the season. Generally, I am not worried about how the team plays early. Orlando did its job to brace itself for an injury to its front court this summer in signing Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Matt Barnes.

And as 3rd Quarter Collapse points out, Stan Van Gundy has had to face worse.

But looking at the schedule, the first 10 games are not difficult. There are four games against teams from last year's playoffs -- two against Detroit. Game Nine is against Cleveland -- it would have been too ironic if it were Game 11. A trip to Toronto is somewhat concerning. But overall, the Magic could easily escape with a 6-4, maybe even 7-3 record without Lewis.

This is a good team. Orlando knows how to win and this is only a hiccup in its quest for a championship.

Let's just hope there is not any more fallout. Bad PR is not good for any team in this economic climate.