Tyrell Terry, the Dallas Mavericks’ 2020 No. 31 pick, retired from basketball on Thursday with a heartfelt Instagram post that cited his struggle with anxiety.
“Today I have decided to give up the game that has formed a big part of my identity. Something that has guided my path since I took my first steps,” Terry wrote.
“While I’ve made incredible accomplishments, created unforgettable memories, and made lifelong friends…I’ve also been through the darkest times of my life. To the point where instead of building me up, it has started destroying me.
The post captioned photos that chronicled Terry’s short career. The post included photos from his time as a young hooper in his hometown of Minneapolis, then De La Salle High School, Stanford and finally Dallas.
Terry spent one season with the Mavericks and played in 11 games. He missed some matches for “personal reasons”, before being waived.
He also played for the G League and made two appearances with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Terry was an exciting draft prospect who surprised many when he declared for the draft and became the first one-and-done in the history of the Stanford University program. There, he averaged 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He also recorded the best free throw percentage (.891) in the Pac-12.
He was seen breaking down on ESPN’s draft when his name was called by the Mavericks.
“I began to despise myself and question my worth, far more than those around me could ever see or know,” Terry wrote.
He also described challenging symptoms, including “intrusive thoughts, nausea upon waking, and difficulty in breathing normally due to the stone resting on my chest that felt like it weighed more than I could carry.”
Terry’s post explained that while he may be known “as a bust, a failure or a waste of talent”, he is grateful to those who supported him and apologizes to those he “left to fall”.
Mental Health in the NBA
The league got even more outspoken about mental health in 2018, when Demar DeRozan tweeted, “This depression is getting the better of me…” He then spoke with the Toronto Star about his struggle with mental health. This interview inspired Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love to write an essay for the Players Tribune titled “Everyone Goes Through Something.”
Together, DeRozan and Love sparked an ongoing conversation that led to the NBPA launching a new mental health and wellness program a few months later.
Kensa Gunter began serving as director of the NBA’s Mind Health mental health and wellness program in 2020 and spoke with The Washington Post about humanizing athletes.
“Being excellent and being part of the elite doesn’t exempt you from being human,” she said. “We believe that if you have access to all these financial resources, if you live in the public eye and are exceptionally talented on the pitch and able to do these remarkable things that we can only dream of, how could you have problems? It breaks the idea that people are successful because they don’t experience adversity and instead humanizes this conversation by saying, “This successful person also faces challenges and learns to manage and overcome those challenges is part of which contributes to their journey of success.”
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