NBA star Kevin Love on sharing mental health struggles: 'Success is not immune to depression or mental illness'
Kevin Love opens up about why it was important for him to publicly talk about his mental health issues, explaining that depression "doesn't discriminate."
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
KEVIN LOVE: These athletes were looked at as superheroes a lot of the time and we can't get hurt. But I think that vulnerability and allowing others to look in and say, oh, they're humans too and I can relate to that, it just makes us all feel like we're tighter or closer in some way.
Success is not immune to depression or mental illness. No matter how much you've accomplished in your life-- like you can't achieve yourself to beating this. It's just-- it's something that will likely be with you forever.
I just didn't want anybody else to tell my story. And immediately then-- really soon thereafter, I decided, OK, it's probably time to stop compartmentalizing, living in the shadows, you know, putting this thing off to the side. It's time not only to help myself but potentially help others as well.
I was mostly scared about how it was going to be perceived and if my livelihood was going to be affected. Because I put my entire life and everything into this game. But I was willing to fall on my sword and take one for all the kids out there, any demographic. Like I said, it doesn't discriminate.
I was willing to just say, you know what? Screw it. I'm just going to play on my cards. I'm going to put it all out there and let the chips fall. I was so over living in the shadows and being in pain and just trying to hide it from everybody. I think that was the biggest thing. It just felt like I was going to be outed or I was going to be discovered as some type of a fraud. And it just wasn't conducive to a happy life or a healthy life that matter living that way.
It felt paramount for myself but others around the league to really, really step up.
CHRIS PAUL: Great opportunity for us all to step up and lead our families. The best thing that we all could do right now is try to be as selfless as possible.
KEVIN LOVE: And other teams did it as well. Entire organizations did it as well in their communities. So I thought it was incredibly important to send a really good message, help people. And for me personally, in a selfish way, it was a great way to offset any anxiety or stress that I've had during this time.
Because, you know, a lot like mental illness, this doesn't discriminate. This is really affecting everyone at some capacity.
The landscape has changed, I mean, for what people need-- frontline workers, arena workers from the beginning really being put out of work, and NBA players really stepping up and getting their message out and being a driving force and feeling that sense of community, whether it be distributing meals to local food banks, helping local people get meals, working with a lot of the hospitals, making sure that they're supplied with whatever they need. Especially in Mental Health Awareness Month-- this month of May-- just continuing to be a voice, continuing to alleviate the stigma, educate people, just continuing the conversation surrounding mental health.
Check out KevinLoveFund.org. we have our four pillars, which are stigma, education, tools, and research. And we're using all of those to continue to create that community and to affect the masses. I think we're going to continue to grow that platform so that we can make a huge difference.
I think if 2020 has taught me anything, it's to stay present. Because we've had the loss of David Stern, Kobe Bryant. We've had the game taken away from us. Staying in the present has been probably-- and it always is, too, like finding balance-- the hardest thing to do during this time.
Resetting my mindset is just taking a step back and understanding or feeling my surroundings really go head-to-toe and figure out exactly what I need. So resetting myself-- especially during this time where you can feel bundled up, you can feel that stress, feel like you're bursting at the seams-- it's taking a step back and just acknowledging where I say, hey, OK. What is it body and mind that I need at this point?
It's allowed me to have a lot more empathy, you know, see everybody pretty much on a personal level, you know, even playing field, and just continuing to feel like you're a part of the winning side of history. I think it's something that I feel like could be my life's work. But it took a lot to lead up to that point.
