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The NBA is one of the most forward-thinking of all professional sports leagues, but some things are just too liberal.

And one of those things is its players partaking in smoking weed. Many have come forward admitting how it helps with the aches and pains of stresses of such a hectic schedule, and the latest is none other than Shawn Kemp. The Seattle Supersonics legend recently revealed that he was smoking it up during his lengthy career from 1989 until he retired in 2003.

Kemp says that even though players smoked back then, they never overindulged.

“When I played, absolutely we smoked pot back in the day when we played. We was responsible with it, but we definitely smoked,” Kemp says.

The 50-year-old explained that it was a way safer way of dealing with the pain that comes with the arduous game of basketball than the highly addictive pain pills.

“For me, with arthritis and different pains in your body, [marijuana] is the perfect solution,” Kemp told TMZ.

“Sometimes guys don’t like to pop the pills, some guys, they don’t wanna take those chances, so this is another way of taking care of yourself professionally, with doing it the right way.”

Kemp’s gone from smoking while playing in the league 23 years ago to turning it into a profitable business. Kemp is now the partner of a cannabis store in Seattle, simply called Shawn Kemp’s Cannabis.

Kemp was arrested twice in the early 2000s for possession, but thankfully the world’s view on weed has changed and enabled him to employ 35 people at his dispensary.

“I think we’re finding out the cannabis to be valuable to us in a lot of different ways, whether it be through medicine or to athletic skills,” Kemp told Yahoo Sports. “And I think that’s why you see the NBA bending their rules, and I think you’ll see several other leagues probably do the same.”