NBA players have agreed to additional drug testing, adding offseason screening for performance-enhancing drugs only.  Union executive director Billy Hunter sent a memo yesterday to players detailing these and other changes of a new labor deal and recommended they ratify the agreement.  Less clear is a provision for human growth hormone testing.

According to the memo, an NBA-NBPA joint committee would study the “possibility of an HGH testing program.” League spokesman Mike Bass, however, insisted both sides agreed to HGH blood testing, subject to the process being validated by a “neutral committee of experts.”  It wasn’t immediately clear who would be on that panel.  No matter what, players will face additional testing if the deal is ratified.  The memo also stated that beginning in the 2012-13 season, players can be tested up to two times during the offseason for steroids and performance-enhancing drugs only. They would not be screened for drugs such as marijuana.

Source: The Columbus Dispatch