After walking away from the game, the talented 26-year-old talks about his struggles with anxiety and why the NBA was simply not a good place for him to be.
Larry Sanders entered the league as the 15th pick in the first round of the 2010 draft. After an upward curve in performance, by 2013 he signed a four year, $44 million deal with the Bucks and it appeared the Florida native was living the dream.
But his behaviour was more nightmarish. After that deal was signed he fell into a spiral of trouble, falling out with team-mates and coaches, getting busted for marijuana use, on court fights and then the injuries kicked in, including one to his thumb sustained in a fight in a nightclub.
As you might imagine, these actions made him lose his popularity with fans and by the time he failed a second drug test for marijuana, most were unsurprised to see him effectively quit the game by after agreeing a buy out with the Bucks last week.
Now Sanders has spoken to the the Players Tribune and created this video to explain why he did it.
Sanders says that he is many things in life and basketball, at least at a pro level, simply took up too much of his life. He admits to suffering from anxiety, from which his drug use stemmed, and he has been to hosipital about his depression too.
He talks about the abuse he received on social media for quitting such a lucrative job but as he says: ‘It’s a scary thing to walk away from security but I’m more afraid of living with the “what if.”’
He doesn’t rule out a return to basketball ‘If I get to a point where I feel I’m capable of playing basketball again, I will’ but for now he is focussed on his friends and family.
Best of luck Larry, hope to see you back on the court some day.
