Former Thunder G Alex Abrines: 'I even got to hate' basketball
Former Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Abrines posted a video to Instagram Wednesday morning explaining why he parted ways with the team in February and missed substantial time ahead of his release.
The Thunder said Abrines had been missing time for personal reasons and didn’t elaborate on what those reasons were throughout the season. According to Abrines’ video, his relationship with the game of basketball started to fall apart and he lost the joy that he used to get when he played.
“Dear friend, what a mess! So much time spent together and now you do this to me. We’ve known each other since I did not know how to walk. Years and years of indestructible friendship until a few months ago when everything broke into a thousand pieces just because you started to frighten me. I couldn’t even see you. I even got to hate you. To be with you was little less than an obligation. I avoided you in the slightest chance. I just wanted to run away from you and everything around you. I spent a lot of time telling myself that all this could not be truth. It didn’t make sense. It had to go back to what it was. That’s why I asked for help to my own people and used the best professionals to mend the happiness that I felt every time we were together.”
Abrines was released Feb. 9
The Spanish guard played in 29 of Oklahoma City’s first 32 games of the 2018-19 season. But after playing on Dec. 23 he stepped away from the team. He played in just two more games the rest of the season before the Thunder released him to help him deal with his issues. Throughout Abrines’ absence, the Thunder said they were being as supportive as possible.
A second-round pick of the Thunder in the 2013 draft, Abrines averaged 5.3 points a game a season ago, the same number he’s averaged throughout his career. As mental health issues still can have a stigma attached to them, Abrines is making a bold step to reveal his battles with basketball happiness publicly. And it was even a bigger step to go seek professional help in the first place when he knew that something was wrong.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
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