Basketball player banned after drug test shows he’s pregnant

Maybe basketball players shouldn’t play while pregnant. It’s just best to play it safe for the baby’s sake.

That’s good advice for point guard D.J. Cooper. Seems he’s pregnant.

Well, at least that’s what his drug test showed, Eurohoops.net reports.

Cooper was a standout at Ohio University from 2009-13. After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA Draft, Cooper headed to Europe, where’s he been playing for various teams.

He was trying to make a move to join the Bosnian national team last year. However, it’s now been revealed that he failed a drug test. But it wasn’t for performance-enhancing or recreational drugs that came up. It was the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). That’s a hormone manufactured by the placenta during pregnancy.

Obviously, the urine wasn’t Cooper’s. According to the drug report, Cooper used his girlfriend’s urine. Ge was banned for two years by the international basketball federation (FIBA). He can’t play again until June 2020.

The ban was initally kept under wraps, with Cooper issuing a statement last year that he wanted to take some time off to focus on family matters.

“I decided to take a step back from basketball and put an end to my contract with the Roca Team for family reasons,” Cooper wrote in a statement released by Monaco last year.

“In the current state, my mind and concentration are not basketball and I don’t want to be a cause of disruption for the team … this team that I love, this team that represents the extraordinary Principality of Monaco, that brought me a unique life experience. This team represents a professional organization led by committed, passionate and vigorous people.

“I wish my teammates and coaches the maximum success.”

Cooper has played two years in Greece and three seasons in the French league on three teams.