The New Orleans Pelicans’ seven-game home winning streak was snapped on Saturday night. Cleveland Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 27 points; meanwhile, Zion Williamson had his team-high 25 points. But the league decided to test an international player from NOP despite his 6-point night.

The Bosnian-Croatian big man, Karlo Matkovic, revealed on Instagram that, per league rules, he was tested on Saturday. He captioned the story, “Ofc I’m drug tested today 😂😂😂,” alongside the post of his viral highlight dunk.

In the fourth quarter of the Pelicans’ 111-106 loss to the Cavs, Matkovic caught an alley-oop pass from Jeremiah Fears — facing away from the basket — and still finished. His 360 slam dunk got the Smoothie King Center on its feet. On Sunday, Matkovic shared several highlights of the dunk on social media and revealed he was randomly drug tested the following day.

Players are typically subject to four random tests for PEDs during the season and two during the offseason. While Matkovic is a solid contributor averaging six points, his explosive athleticism — evident in his highlight dunks and strong chemistry on lobs from teammates like Zion Williamson, along with a 61/45/77 shooting line — is clearly what catches the eye and, apparently, the attention of league testers. He is not the first player this season to be tested after a viral play.

Indiana Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is recovering from an Achilles injury suffered against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals last season, was also called for a test. “Post a video dunking, drug test a week later!” he tweeted, followed by a crying laughing emoji. Hali had posted a video of himself dunking on October 24; naturally, the league took notice.

The NBA has been doing this for some time now. Any viral play or high game scores lead to the player being tested.

NBA drug tests other stars

In 2023, three high-profile scenarios of players being tested came to light. Blazers guard Damian Lillard had dropped 71 points in a 131-114 victory against the Houston Rockets, and the league was quick to take action. “I mean, honestly, I was like, ‘Are y’all serious?’ ” Lillard said the next day during his post-game news conference.

Dame informed that he had done the urine test, and the NBA also demanded a blood test, which was the first time in his career that he was tested for after a game.

Two months earlier, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell faced the same situation after scoring a historic 71 points against the Chicago Bulls in a 145-134 overtime victory. “Andddd just like that we are drug tested this morning,” Mitchell wrote on Twitter.

That year, it was Ja Morant who caught everyone by surprise with the number of times the NBA tested him.

“Been drug tested like 6 times this season,” The Grizzlies star posted on X. “Walked in the arena & found out I got another one today 😂🙄” His apparent 7th test was after Morant destroyed Pacers’ big man Jalen Smith with a monstrous poster dunk— a pattern that will feel very familiar to Karlo Matkovic right about now.