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Being an NBA Superstar may seem like nothing but fun on the court, but it’s an incredibly stressful job – one that can cause massive emotional damage to a player. Former NBA star Ricky Rubio gave fans a glimpse of that battle this week.
During a press conference with FC Barcelona, Ricky Rubio opened up about the mental battle he’s been dealing with as an NBA player. It was an incredibly eye-opening moment.
“I developed a chronic stress, something similar to an anxiety disorder,” Rubio said, via Marc Mundet and BasketNews. “The only way to come back was to understand why I got to this point. I developed mechanisms that had led me to play at a high level but which were not sustainable. There is another way. Rome is reached by many paths.”
For some players, the separation between the human being that they are and the player that they are is tough to distinguish. It’s something that ate Rubio alive and something that Ja Morant knows all too well – that’s why Morant felt compelled to speak up on social media.
“The player ate the person,” Rubio said. “I didn’t know who I was. It was a difficult moment for me. I had fear. You are able to handle your fears and play down them. Life is full of greys. But I have saved myself, and now I am at ease. I am proud of myself, and I give basketball a new chance.”
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While some NBA players speak up on mental health, it still hasn’t become a fully mainstream part of the product. NBA fans don’t embrace that battle and belittle players on social media every single chance that they can get. NBA fans pretend like they know the struggle, but contribute to it at almost every chance. Hopefully, Rubio’s words will provide some empathy.
“Still, I thought basketball was over,” Rubio said. “But I kept working with myself, and I hope it helps people who are struggling. I was in the dark, but that’s how you get out of it. I live day by day. We try to control the uncontrollable, and you never know when life will take you down another path.”
