Saitama Broncos forward John Flowers, who played for West Virginia in the 2010 NCAA Final Four, told a CBS Radio show in Pittsburgh that drug use in the bj-league is widespread.
Those comments came three days after Osaka Evessa star Lynn Washington's arrest on Tuesday for suspicion of importing a package of marijuana into Japan, a violation of the Cannabis Control Law. Washington's wife, Dana, was arrested last month by Osaka Prefectural Police. The case is ongoing.
"I could name at least two people on every team that smoke marijuana out here," Flowers said in an interview with "The Fan Morning Show" on 93.7 FM before West Virginia lost to Gonzaga in an NCAA tournament game on Thursday.
Flowers, who's tied for fifth in the league in scoring (20.6 points per game), said his overall experience in Japan has been miserable. He described his residency, provided by the Broncos, as living in a "jail cell."
After Washington's arrest and the abrupt announcement that the bj-league, which relies on foreign players to fill about 60 percent of its starting positions, will now begin immediate drug testing before this weekend's games, Flowers said numerous players are stunned by the news. He described it as "something astronomical happened out here."
Flowers said, "A lot of players in the league are real shook right now. . ."