Back in 2015, it was reported that Cavs guard Daniel Gibson called it quits on his NBA career to go pursue a calling in the rap industry. But, as was revealed in an interview with Dime Magazine on Thursday, he actually put in his retirement papers due to a combination of injuries, a divorce, and the death of his live-in grandma. The fusion of that trio of issues led to a very unenviable mental state.
“I was just hit with a flurry of events,” he said. “Mentally, it just took away my ability to workout. I was suffering from depression and anxiety. Honestly, basketball was my sanctuary, but I couldn’t even do that. […] I really got to the point where being alive wasn’t something I wanted anymore.”
Gibson, drafted in 2006 by the Cavs after being personally handpicked by LeBron James, ultimately scored 3,115 points in his seven-year NBA career, and knocked down over 40 percent of his threes.
Gibson says that writing music helped him overcome that negative mindset which led him to retirement at the age of 29. "I just started writing, and someone close to me had started to read some of my work and kept up on what I was doing," he said. "He ended up telling me about ways that I could express myself and release my feelings through music with nobody around except a microphone. So I started doing that and writing about how I felt, what I wanted to feel like, what I wanted to accomplish, and it all just kept me going. It – along with my son – basically saved my life."
He's in a much better place now, which you can read all about in the whole interview (which includes anecdotes about what he's been up to lately, and what LeBron James did for his career). Go check it out over at Dime.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
