As More Athletes Speak Up About Mental Health, The NBA Hopes Fans Take Note, Too

By Lauren Rearick


As soon as the National Basketball Association resumes its common season on October 22, 2019, it won’t be without major changes to how the league approaches how it helps mental health of its players.


The NBA has unveiled a series of mental health points set to be implemented before the 2019-2020 season, The Athletic reported, but, according to HuffPost the NBA has made continued attempts to distribute mental health support to its players since 2015. Initially, a clinical psychologist was made obtainable to speak with teams and personnel as needed, and in 2018, the league compiled a mental health and wellness program aimed at distributing outdoor support for the personnel who net it astronomical amounts of revenue each season.


This new set of points, which were shared in an announced memo to teams and derived by The Athletic, requires all 30 teams in the NBA to have one to two mental nutritionists along with a licensed psychiatrist on personnel. Furthermore, teams will reportedly be required to prepare build a plan for mental health emergencies. The proposed changes will reportedly be spoke further on September 12, as soon as the NBA holds a league-wide meeting associated with the guidelines.


This isn’t the initial time the NBA has been at the forefront of supplying mental health support to professional athletes, and other leagues have adopted similar measures. In May, the NFL announced a series of mental health initiatives, the Boston Red Sox announced its own mental health department, and the WNBA provides a FIT program, targeted at improving mental wellbeing.


As Victor Schwartz, clinical co-worker professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine told MTV News, athletes, without consideration of what sport they play, experience continued day-to-day pressure. “Given the involves on these players, and their tough schedules and difficulty with privacy, having possibilities to meet with mental health clinicians on site, just as players can get on the spot support from trainers and team doctors for physical pain and injury, will promote healthy and hopefully even more successful player performance,” Schwartz mentioned. “It is both forward-thinking and sensible for the league leadership to create this a segment of the care and support system for players.”


In the past, players including Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors, and Kelly Oubre, Jr. of the Phoenix Suns have opened up about their struggles with mental health. And as Don Mordecai, national leader for mental health and wellness with Kaiser Permanente, the official healthcare partner of the NBA, explained to MTV News, the groundswell of athletes speaking out about mental health could go a long way in reducing continued mental health stigma.


“It’s wonderful as soon as the teams mention, ‘We want a total healthcare team for our teams, and that includes mental and physical health,’” Mordecai mentioned. “That normalizes it in a way that’s really accommodating, and you’re sitting at residence right now, thinking, ‘If Kevin Love can get treatment, and Metta World Peace got help...Maybe it’s OK for me, too.’”


The Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tad Carper, also shared his admiration for work by players like Love, and for the league’s choice to set forth offered ideas. “These are crucial and impactful programs and suggestions from the NBA,” he told MTV News. “We’re happy to support the efforts and understand and appreciate the need and advantages involved.”


“At the same time, we’re very delighted that Kevin has been at the forefront of this landscape and been such a strong catalyst for change,” Carper added. “The awareness that he has championed, keeps it up and continues to inspire, transcends basketball and we’re eager to be able to see the continued progress.” In March 2018, Love had published an article in the Player’s Tribune which opens by detailing his experience with a panic attack, and why, “For 29 years, I thought about mental health as someone else’s problem” before he eventually sought help.


The resulting mental health issues that can possibly arise with the necessitates of life as an athlete go behind just those participating on a professional level. Kristen Mackel, the lead clinical counselor for Pitt Athletics at the University of Pittsburgh, told MTV News the school unveiled its own mental health counseling program in 2018. As piece of the program, two mental health counselors are employed full-time to meet with students.


“It’s really key they have a place where they can come and talk through a situation,” Mackel mentioned. “One of the things that we really try and get across as our message is that it's preventative care.” She mentioned that she often encourages athletes to seek out treatment, and explained that she tells students to view “brain health, mental health, and wellness as no different than your physical health.”


It will ultimately remain to be seen how the NBA’s suggestions will potentially impact its players, yet Mackel mentioned it might likely inspire others closely watching the league. “If you visualize the person who was on the poster in your bedroom or that has the career you wish to have someday as being human and taking care of their body and brain, that permits you to explore that as a possible option,” she mentioned. “You know that you don't have to do it all yourself, that there really are professionals out there that can help.”