For a while now, we’ve been seeing athletes come out abt their MH struggles. But it’s usually been thru the lens of disorder. It started in 2017 w Kevin Love & “Anxiety.” Then it was DeMar DeRozan w “Depression.”
The disorders are in quotes bc – these reveals just doubled down on the misconception that MH was a binary topic. THOSE athletes fell in the “1 in 5” mentally ill category, & whereas other athletes (or just ppl) did not. It even happened w the reveal of Naomi Osaka – Anxiety. Simone Biles – Depression.
But what’s STARTING to happen is – John Wall’s story was a great example: losing his mother to cancer, father incarcerated & passing at a young age – is that athletes are opening up abt their STUFF.
This piece that just came out on Zion Williamson is a GREAT example. He talks abt the dark places he’s been.
He missed all of last yr w a major injury: He read all the comments from fans & the press: Zion is out of shape…isn’t committed to the game…isn’t committed to New Orleans….is detached from his teammates. The physical recovery was hard enough. The negativity was suffocating him.
He told SI this wk: “I was in dark places at times, because I couldn’t play basketball. I could only do limited rehab things. And then just seeing how the world reacted? It took a lot. It did a lot on my spirit.” He didn’t NEED to share a label.
The criticism turned even nastier, falling on the shoulders of his mom, his stepdad & his brother, Noah, who was just 8 last yr – hearing comments in school!
As someone who worked in the WNBA, this next part warms my heart. Zion turned to his assistant coach, Teresa Weatherspoon, a WNBA Legend & shared his struggles.
T Spoon said, “I didn’t want him to feel alone. And when I tell you there were some dark days for that young man, there was some dark days. It was much bigger than basketball at that point. You didn’t want to lose a young man.”
These are the everyday stories we NEED to hear to normalize this convo. It’s not for “1 in 5” w disorder. It’s for “5 in 5” who face MH struggles – even if you make millions of $’s. No one’s immune & sometimes high expectations make things worse!
