Delonte West, Liz Cambage and Kevin Love raise mental health awareness in NBA but more sports need to follow basketball’s lead
- World Health Organisation says there are more than 300 million people suffering from depression worldwide
- Many top athletes have come forward to reveal their own struggles but leagues are not doing enough
It seems there is a constant stream of basketball players to serve as a reminder of mental health issues.
The latest pictures of former Cleveland Cavaliers player Delonte West, a teammate of LeBron James from 2008-10, which appear to show him living on the streets aged 36, are another wake-up call.
It’s not just former players. Just last week, basketball star Liz Cambage took to the Players’ Tribune website to reveal that her recent break from the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), which was listed as “Did Not Play-Rest”, should have been “DNP-Mental Health”.
The Australian is one of the best players in the sport and holds the WNBA single-game scoring record, posting 53 points for the Dallas Wings against the New York Liberty last year.
As she wrote in her article, she struggles with mental health, comparing her own battle to encountering a rip tide at the beach.