Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told TMZ that human growth hormone (HGH) shouldn’t be on the naughty list. If it helps athletes recover from injuries faster and better, what’s wrong with that? Cuban’s sensible question needs an answer: if there’s nothing debilitating about HGH and it doesn’t ultimately hurt the athlete it’s supposed to help, why a ban? (Especially for recovery: alleged performance advantages appear to be greatly exaggerated in healthy athletes.) Cuban puts his money where his mouth is, too, funding research to find answers to crucial HGH questions.
If HGH does prove to be purely beneficial to athletes recovering from injury, here’s a dream list of athletes we wish had been able to take it when their careers needed rejuvenation after injuries. The real list is far too long, sadly, but these ten are a start. Great athletes we would have liked to see get some HGH and recover to deliver more thrills before they left the stage. It’s not clear HGH would have helped these athletes, but it’s dope — so to speak — to dream about it. Who are yours?
- Penny Hardaway (NBA, 4 knee surgeries)
- Bo Jackson (MLB, NFL, hip replacement)
- Gale Sayers
(NFL, both knees)
- Mark Prior (MLB, Tommy John surgery)
- Earl Campbell (NFL, knee surgery, spinal surgery)
- Terrell Davis (NFL, surgery on both knees)
- Sandy Koufax
(MLB, arthritic elbow)
- Bobby Orr
(NHL, 12 knee surgeries)
- Brandon Roy (NBA, knees)
- Brandon Webb (MLB, shoulder)
- Andrew Toney (NBA, feet, stress fractures)
