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Danny Green and Alex Caruso have a special handshake based on how often they get randomly drug tested by the NBA

Lakers guards Danny Green and Alex Caruso are taking the NBA testing them for PEDs in stride.

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Los Angeles Lakers Media Day Photo by Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images

During the offseason — after comically swole (photoshopped) photos of him hit the internet and went viral — the NBA gave Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso a drug test that he poked some fun at on Instagram. The league took similar action when his teammate, Danny Green — a player not exactly known for his dunking — left everyone on the Lakers in disbelief when he posterized the entire Atlanta Hawks organization and was hit with a drug test the day after.

It appears the amusing timing of their drug tests allowed the two talented guards to bond, as on Green’s podcast — “Inside the Green Room,” which is televised on Spectrum SportsNet — he and Caruso revealed that they’ve come up with a special handshake to commemorate the times they had to pee in a cup for the league:

The reaction of Green’s co-host, Harrison Sanford, gets funnier each time you watch the video. That is the laughter of a man in disbelief that the needle-inspired symbolism behind this handshake is being revealed on air, basically mirroring the likely reaction of everyone watching the clip.

Now, this is funny and all, but there are actual guidelines about these drug tests, and it would be interesting to know which designation Green and Caruso’s tests fell under (via Larry Coon’s invaluable Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQ):

Testing falls into two categories: reasonable cause and random. Reasonable cause testing occurs when the league or players association provides the program’s independent expert with information about a player’s use, possession or distribution of prohibited substances, and the expert believes that reasonable cause exists to order testing. If reasonable cause is found to exist, the player can be tested without notice up to four times in a six week period. Players can be subjected to random testing up to four times during a season (two times for HGH) and up to two times during an offseason (one time for HGH; offseason testing is conducted for SPEDs, HGH and diuretics only).

It is probably... unlikely... that photoshopped photos and/or Green managing to dunk were license for the league to designate these as “reasonable cause” tests, but if they were, that honestly makes this funnier. Whatever the case, at least Caruso and Green are able to laugh about it, too.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.

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