Carmelo Anthony Says He Believes Athletes Are 'Naturally' Susceptible to Depression

Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is getting candid about mental health.

The 10-time NBA All-Star, 37, opened up about the challenges of being a professional athlete on Tuesday during an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show to discuss his new book, Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised: A Memoir of Survival and Hope, released on Sept. 14.

"I think athletes, like, we're naturally depressed being an athlete," he told Drew Barrymore. "I mean, what we have to go through on a day-to-day basis, dealing with media, competing at the highest level. We spend more time with our teammates than we do with our family during the year, so you miss holidays and so on and so forth. So it's a lot of things that, you know, the average person [doesn't] really understand that an athlete has to go through."

"It wasn't until I actually started writing the book and going through that process where I was able to kind of get the real, true meaning of, kind of, who I am and putting everything into perspective," he continued.

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Last week, Anthony spoke to PEOPLE about writing his memoir, explaining, "I've never really wanted to tell this story. But I really thought that the time was now to really tell my part of the story, that most people don't know."

"You got to be vulnerable because you're letting people into your world. If you're not honest and vulnerable and appreciative at the same time, there's no need to tell that story," he added. "If you're going to sugarcoat a lot of things, there's no need to write a book or tell those stories. So I really had to humble myself and be like, 'Okay, listen I'm taking the gloves off basically. And I'm just letting you into my world and then into my childhood.' "

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Abbie Parr/Getty Carmelo Anthony

While Anthony's story is far from done, he knows the majority of his NBA career is now behind him. For that reason, he felt it was important to write a memoir sooner rather than later.

"I wanted it to still be relevant," he said when asked why it was the right time for the book. "I feel like I'm still the connected tissue to a lot of this generation and to the generation before. So I really felt like this time, like I had to do it right now. For me to still be able to touch different generations and still be relatable to different generations, younger and older, the time was perfect for it."

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In August, it was announced that Anthony will play out his 19th basketball season with the Los Angeles Lakers, joining longtime friend LeBron James.

"It's been a long time coming," he told PEOPLE of teaming up with James. "We've been trying to figure this out for a long time, but through the time it didn't work, the situations were different. But we are here now, so we going to make the best out of it."