Former NBA player Matt Barnes received a call from the NBA front office about current players' marijuana use and concerns around possible abuse among young players. 

Barnes, a weed enthusiast and co-host of the “All the Smoke” podcast, recently shared a story on "Big Boy’s The Hangout" about a call he received from NBA brass asking for his perspective on young NBA players’ weed usage and added that it’s becoming an area of concern. 

In order to understand why Barnes was called, we have to go back a bit to understand his relationship with cannabis.

Barnes, a California native, first tried weed when he was 14 and has used it religiously ever since. The NBA front office knows this and figured he'd be one of the early calls in looking into player use. 

"She called me. She's like, 'Matt, I need your help.'" 

"All right. What's up? 

"'I need you to talk to these young players about smoking weed.' " 

"I'm like, 'What do you mean?'" 

"'They're coming late, they're smelling like it and they're showing up to appearances,'" Barnes said.

Barnes, who played in the NBA for 14 years, noted that no matter how much weed players smoke, they have to understand that they are professionals and need to maintain their professionalism at all times. 

"You've got to be professional on and off the court, especially when cannabis is a freedom you have. But don't misuse it," Barnes said, Yahoo reports.

He added that if players don’t learn how to manage the freedom they have, then the league will change that for them, including going back to routine marijuana testing and possible suspensions. 

"Guys during my run lost their careers, lost contracts, got suspended,” Barnes said. “I don't think these kids understand the history of where they're at now and their freedom to be able to smoke.”