NBA

NBA deputy Silver: League to monitor HGH

Thanks to the ongoing talk in Major League Baseball about Biogenesis, the topic of performance-enhancing drugs has been thrust into the dialogue around the sports world for the past several months.

Much of that talk has centered around the use of human growth hormone (HGH), which is the latest PED sports leagues are trying to combat. That includes the NBA, which is in the process of figuring out the best way to implement HGH testing as part of its drug-testing program.

“One of the changes that we know we’ll be making to our current drug testing is the addition of HGH testing, which requires taking blood from the players,” NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver told The Post last week. “We want to make sure, on behalf of our players, as well, that’s it’s done in the proper way, and that we understand what are the appropriate baselines for a natural substance, like HGH, so we can detect where there are aberrations. That is something we’re very focused on.”

Silver said while the NBA has been monitoring the Biogenesis case as it has developed over the past several months, the league isn’t aware of any involvement of its players with the clinic, contrary to a recent report.

“We’ve been actively working to understand the situation and to the extent possible to learn what is being uncovered by MLB’s investigation,” Silver said. “We are not aware of any involvement by NBA players.”

While the NBA is still in the process of implementing HGH testing, virtually all of its star players, including local headliners Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams, have been subjected to Olympic-level testing — the most thorough testing program available — as part of their participation in international competition.

The NBA has the same three-strikes penalty structure as MLB, with a 20-game suspension for a first PED offense, followed by 45 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. All players are subject to six random tests each year — four during the season, and two during the offseason.

Although the implementation of HGH testing is something that likely won’t be completed until the NBA Players Association has hired a new executive director — something it’s currently in the process of doing it — Silver said he has heard nothing but agreement from the players on the need to ensure fairness for all.

“It’s why, even in the collective bargaining agreement, this was not a point of contention,” he said. “Both for the player representatives and the owners who participated, this is an issue where it is in everybody’s interest to have state-of-the-art drug testing, and to have a level playing field for all players, because we recognize it’s not fair for a player to believe that in order to compete, and in order to keep his job, he has to do something that one could potentially harm his body and number two could potentially get him in trouble.”