Basketball star Kevin Durant has said the NBA commissioner could smell cannabis on him as he lobbied to end the league’s ban on the drug.

“He smelled it when I walked in, so I didn’t really have to say much, you know what I’m saying?” Durant said in an interview.

The 34-year-old added that the drug is so commonly used in the league “it’s like wine at this point”.

NBA players are no longer prohibited from using cannabis.

The league and its union, the National Basketball Players Association, signed a new collective bargaining agreement last month that removes the drug from its list of banned substances.

The policy change drew praise from the likes of rapper Snoop Dogg, who touted its “health benefits and how it could actually help ease the opioids and all the pills that they’ve been given and the injections”.

Players have not been subject to random tests for cannabis since the 2019-20 season.

Durant, a forward for the Phoenix Suns and one of the top scorers in NBA history, was among those who personally lobbied NBA commissioner Adam Silver in a meeting to stop the league penalising use of the drug.

During an interview at a sports and business conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Durant said: “He kind of understood where this was going.

“It’s the NBA, man. Everybody does it, to be honest. It’s like wine at this point.”

He said Mr Silver – the league’s commissioner since 2014 – agreed with him. The BBC has contacted the NBA for comment.

“I just enjoy the plant,” said Durant, who has invested in several cannabis-related companies. “It’s as simple as that.”

Other US sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, the National Football League and Ultimate Fighting Championship have all relaxed their cannabis policies in recent years.

The drug is legal for recreational use in 23 US states, three US territories and the capital Washington DC – but its use and possession remains illegal under federal law.