All Things Sports

Hi guys, welcome back to All Things Sports, and since World Mental Health Day was earlier this week, today’s focus will be mental health in sports. 

In April of this year, NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, aka “The Greek Freak” revealed that he nearly left the sport of Basketball in 2020 despite already being a 2-time MVP and signing what was then the largest contract extension in NBA history for 228 million dollars. This was after being eliminated in the playoffs in disappointing fashion for the second year in a row after losing to the Miami Heat in the 2nd round of the 2020 playoffs and the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals. It is important to note the backstory of the player who is widely regarded as the best player in the league right now. Antetokounmpo and his family immigrated to Greece from Nigeria for a better life when he was a child. He grew up poor and his family struggled to maintain food and housing with him and his two brothers. This background of struggle and hardship ended up forging the Greek Freak as he was recognized for his basketball talents and was eventually drafted to the Milwaukee Bucks. He has since had a rapid ascension to stardom becoming the best player in the league according to many today. However, his mental health suffered, especially following the sudden loss of his father in 2017. He revealed that he spoke to someone after considering quitting the game because of mental health to address his mental health in 2020. Thankfully, he has also said that since then, his mental health has improved significantly. 

I bring this story up not to focus on Antetokounmpo but to highlight one very famous case study that shows a hint at what is going on beyond the surface when it comes to athletes. Many athletes, including high-profile ones such as Naomi Osaka and Michael Phelps, deal with mental health issues and it is important to address this. When examining the life of an athlete, it is easy to see why. You are expected to work hard every minute of the day and everything you do in your respective sport is intensely scrutinized by the media, with people waiting to see you fail just so they can validate their own opinions. The pressure to perform is real and you have to remember that although they are very good at what they do, they are human. They have feelings too. It’s not just professional athletes. Many amateurs and student athletes deal with intense pressure to succeed and make it to the pros because they feel their future and livelihood depends on it. This leads to statistics such as the one from Athletes for Hope that says up to 35% of athletes are experiencing a mental health crisis, whether it be anxiety, burnout, depression or all 3. This is more than 1 in every 3 athletes and furthermore, these are only the athletes who have had the ability to be open about it. Many athletes may not report their mental health issues because they are afraid of being seen as unfit to compete. Unfortunately people often justify their fears when the media and public label athletes as “soft” for saying that they experience these things or that they choked. A great instance of this is LA Clippers player Paul George who struggled immensely with mental health during the 2020 bubble as the Clippers lost in the 2nd round to the Nuggets 4-3 after being up 3-1 in the series. However, most people will label his performance and attitude as “soft” during the bubble, saying that mental health is just an “excuse” for underperforming. It is no secret that he underperformed, however it is simply wrong to degrade his abilities as an athlete or human being because he struggled with his mind.This kind of talk is exactly why athletes feel that they can’t open up, especially the brightest stars. If they have a bad reputation in the media, then their career and earnings are impacted because of things like brand deals. At the end of the day, people should never be ridiculed or scrutinized or harassed because of mental health issues. These are real-world problems that some like to dismiss as “made-up” and “soft” when in reality they are things that can affect any one of us. The final argument that I want to address is an athlete specific one where people claim that since athletes are at the top of their game they should be able to handle “a little bit of stress”. However, there are two things that I would like to say to this. The first is that no amount of training can prepare an athlete, or any human for that matter, for the unique problems and situations that mental health problems present. The second thing is something that I have said before and it is that these athletes are humans just like you and me. They should be able to show emotion and be vulnerable just like a normal person should be allowed. So the next time you hear about an athlete or any person discussing their mental health, know that they aren’t “weak” or “soft”; they are completely normal and that is ok. If it is a friend or family member that is suffering, support them. If you yourself are suffering from mental health problems, just know that you are not alone and that there are people you can reach out to for support, whatever it may be. Don’t let the vice grips of mental health problems or the stigma of being “soft” affect you or those that you care about.