Former NBA star Kevin Garnett references LeBron James in unfounded PED claim

Kevin Garnett stepped away from the NBA after the 2015-16 season. His career spanned more than two decades, and during that time, Garnett had numerous head-to-head battles on the basketball court against LeBron James. 

James is in the midst of his 21st season in the NBA and is still playing at a high level. James enters Saturday night’s game against the defending champion Denver Nuggets just nine points shy of 40,000 career points.

James’ oldest son, Bronny, has been a topic of conversation in recent days. As the college basketball regular season comes to a close, there have been more and more questions about whether USC freshman Bronny will declare for the 2024 NBA Draft, but the elder James recently took issue with a mock draft that excluded Bronny. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

NBA greats Kevin Garnett (left) and LeBron James (right) are honored for being selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team during halftime in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.  (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

“Can yall please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball,” the Los Angeles Lakers superstar wrote on X, the company formerly known as Twitter. “The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”

At one point during a recent episode of the “KG CERTIFIED w/ Kevin Garnett” podcast, Garnett began discussing how Bronny would project as an NBA player. 

LEBRON JAMES BLASTS COVERAGE AROUND BRONNY DESPITE SAYING HE COULD PLAY FOR LAKERS ‘EASY’

“Bronny can get a bucket on Bron,” NBA champion Paul Pierce asserted.

Garnett quickly pushed back saying, “No, no, no he can’t.”

“Man, c’mon, that little dude is explosive,” Pierce responded.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) calls out to a teammate during the second half as Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett (5) looks on at the TD Garden.  (David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)

But Garnett’s argument about James being able to prevent Bronny from scoring during a hypothetical game did not center around age, size, or experience. Instead, Garnett suggested that James used steroids.

“His dad on that BALCO, he on that new juice,” Garnett said.

LeBron James, #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers, looks on during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 1, 2022, at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)

Garnett did not offer any additional context or information to support the claim he made on the podcast.

Fox News Digital contacted James’ representatives. Emails seeking comment did not immediately receive a response.

James, notably, has never failed a drug test during his lengthy professional basketball career. He had previously been embroiled in a PED-related controversy when documents surfaced linking some of James’ associates to the Biogenesis scandal.

The 2013 federal Biogenesis probe, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents unofficially referred to as “Operation Strikeout,” resulted in the conviction of Anthony Bosch, a self-described biochemist, and several associates.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The DEA ultimately cleared James following the probe. James was also cleared following ESPN’s 2023 report on the Biogenesis investigation.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.