The former NBA star Matt Barnes is on a mission. He wants his former teammates and other professional athletes to be able to use marijuana without fear of punishment or the stigma traditionally associated with cannabis.
"The old stereotypes are outdated," said Barnes in a special 4/20 edition of Cheddar's CannaBiz. "We all know doing it throughout our careers how it helped us and the benefits it gave us."
Barnes, who won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in his final season in the league in 2017, is the executive producer of a new Bleacher Report series called "BR x 420"about marijuana in pro sports. It includes interviews with more than a dozen former NBA and NFL players talking about their support for more tolerant cannabis rules, and smoking up.
"The fact that they are speaking on it is huge," said Barnes. "We just hope to continue to grow the momentum."
The NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball have negotiated collective bargaining agreements with their players' unions that include provisions for drug testing and punishments for cannabis use.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/playing-high-the-role-of-cannabis-in-sports).
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Mark Drumheller, betting analyst for Yahoo Sportsbook and The Sharp App, dives into an icy matchup between the Vikings and Packers, as well as other must-watch games including a potential trap in Baltimore.
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Trysta Krick and Mark Drumheller give viewers their winning picks ahead of Week 17 of the NFL season, while Brandon Marcello dissects each of the College Football Playoff semifinal matchups.
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Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini joined Cheddar's Kristen Scholer to discuss plans for the future even as COVID-19 upended Barstool's sponsorship of the Arizona Bowl featuring the Boise State Broncos and the Central Michigan Chippewas due to the spreading omicron variant. "In our case as a company, coronavirus has been a big boom for us," she noted. "We've been able to create a lot of new programming, launch a lot of different personalities, and frankly take share from traditional media, and that's what we've done the entire pandemic." While she admitted to taking a hit on the canceled Bowl game, live events aren't completely off the table for Barstool in 2022. Nardini also talked about potential sports betting expansion following its partnership with Penn National Gaming.
