Inexplicably, Larry Sanders has walked away from a career in the NBA at 26 years old. He wasn’t hurt, wasn’t kicked out of the league and he wasn’t lacking in the skill department.
Let that resonate in your brain.
At the age of 26, Larry Sanders decided to walk away, on his own power.
Sanders was in the middle of a 4 year, $44 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s faced some criticism due to personal issues and was even suspended by the NBA but now, Sanders speaks about what happened in his mind.
Courtesy of “The Players’ Tribune”
Everyone’s come up with their own theories about why I’ve been absent since leaving the Bucks. I knew people would speculate, but the crazy thing to me is that people are making it about the money. As a person who grew up with nothing, I know money is important. I’m incredibly grateful to have had the chance to play in the NBA. But at the same time, that’s not what fuels me. I’ve never chased money. It’s never been how I define success. Happiness isn’t behind a golden gate.
Everyone has to make a living. I’m no different from the person whose 9-to-5 isn’t their dream job. It’s a scary thing to walk away from security but I’m more afraid of living with the “what if.”
I love basketball, and if I get to a point where I feel I’m capable of playing basketball again, I will. I’ve had to make the difficult decision to follow my intuition, and allow myself the space and time to explore my true purpose in life.
