The National Basketball Association’s new collective bargaining agreement does not allow current players to promote cannabis brands, the league clarified to two media outlets.
Reports this week by SFGate and Law360 contradict earlier media coverage indicating that the league’s new labor agreement, ratified April 26, permits current players to endorse cannabis products.
Neither the NBA nor the National Basketball Players Association responded to MJBizDaily requests for comment.
According to a summary of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) obtained by Law360, NBA players “will continue to be prohibited from promoting marijuana companies.”
However, they are allowed to “hold a passive, non-controlling interest in a company that makes products containing marijuana.”
Under the new seven-year labor agreement, players are allowed to promote and invest in companies that contain CBD.
And the CBA does remove marijuana from the league’s prohibited substances list.
Celebrities of all stripes continue to demonstrate intense interest in the cannabis industry, with athletes, actors, musicians and others with high profiles affixing their images to brands.
Several former NBA players have found notable success, including Al Harrington, a former first-round draft pick who has found a second career in cannabis as an influencer, advocate and CEO of Viola; and Hall of Famer Gary Payton, whose image appears on an eponymous strain marketed by industry powerhouse Cookies.
The NBA’s current labor agreement is considered the most cannabis-friendly in league history. (Full Story)