Former Ohio University basketball star was caught using his girlfriend’s urine on a drug test in 2018 when the results revealed he was pregnant.
What We Know:
- The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has suspended D.J. Cooper until June 20, 2020, after he used his girlfriend’s urine to pass a drug test. He needed to pass a drug test in order to join the Bosnian National team after spending time coaching with the Bosnian national team. Cooper’s test results came back positive for gHC, which is a hormone in the placenta that is only produced when a woman is pregnant. Though the offense is just now surfacing in the media, Cooper has been officially suspended since 2018.
DJ Cooper… Pregnant or not 😂 pic.twitter.com/kGco5EUTWA
— betpropicks (@betpropicks) August 4, 2019
- Cooper’s bizarre suspension comes as he had just decided to take a break from basketball in 2018 for family reasons. Cooper terminated his contract with the Roca Team representing Monaco, France, explaining that “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,” Cooper said.
- Cooper graduated from Ohio University as a standout point guard, making it to the 25 all-time Division 1 assist leaders and named the preseason Mid-American Conference Player of the Year in 2013. After he wasn’t drafted in the 2013 NBA draft, Cooper went to the Greek Basket League’s PAOK for a year and bounced between Russia and Greece for professional play until he landed in France in 2016 and ultimately Monaco in 2017.
- Cooper is not the first to be suspended for an outrageous drug-test-gone-wrong; athletes have historically come up with intricate fibs for why their tests came back positive. San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera spent over $10,000 in 2012 creating a lie for why he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs; Cabrera set up a fake website he claimed sold him products that had undisclosed performance-enhancing drugs in them.
Seems like Cooper and his girlfriend didn’t know they were expecting…Congrats!
