Larry Sanders II - Why So Many Athletes Stay Broken: Mental Injuries Nobody Talks About | DSH #1625

Because I think kids get the wrong message when they see it, they think I've been doing it my whole life, and you know, and I don't believe in that.

Once I got into the NBA and my second year in the league, and pains from my body, and not being able to eat, and flying here and flying there, marijuana did become an aide, you know, helped a lot, bro.

So,

all right, guys, Dr. Larry Sanders here, someone taller than me.
It doesn't happen often.

6'9, man.

6'9. Yeah, it's only happened three times in 1,600 episodes.
Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, you're pretty tall, bro.

Not bad, right? For an Asian? Yeah, yeah. You haven't seen too many Asians taller than me.
Nah, not for real. You ready for poker tonight or what? Yeah, I'm ready.

Yeah, you've been studying up on the game? Yes, sir. Let's get it, baby.
I might have to put some money on you. Let's do it.
Let's get it. You gamble a lot?

I don't gamble a lot, but I like to play cards. Yeah.

Yeah.

You hooping a lot right now?

Not so much. But I did hoop this year.
Hooped a little bit. How was it in Taiwan? It was cool.

It was smooth, smooth bro taiwan was dope uh played in the dr for a little bit um this summer ended up like hurting my wrist

so i was gonna do some stuff with the big three but um they actually just called me up a couple days ago but i couldn't i'm still nursing this wrist bro you broke it i sprained it damn yeah sometimes you wish you would have broke it because it's sprain is like you know you know that you don't have a cast and it's hard to heal so you know yeah sprain lingers right yeah damn is that one of the worst injuries you've had um i don't get injured a lot bro the most i've had is in sprains Sprain my ankle, sprain my wrist.

Damn. That's it.
No torn ACLs, no, like, no crazy stuff. You do a lot of preventative stuff? Because that's impressive.
I do. I stretch a lot.
I'm real, yeah, real limber.

So, you know, I work on my stretch and my balance. It's something I do every day.
Yeah. Yeah, that's impressive for playing as long as you have to not have a major injury.

That's like some bronze shit right there. Thankful, bro.
Yeah, let's go. Is ball the main focus, though? Are you thinking about other ventures? Where are you at right now? Yeah, for sure.

I mean, I've been retired now for like, man, since I was 26. I'm about to be 37.
So last year was the first year of me playing overseas and like, you know, since I've been retired.

So I just been a serial entrepreneur since, man, you know, started an artist's incubator.

Did some stuff in music with OVO, cut some records, bro. And

yeah, just been fortunate enough to be in some good rooms, bro. Do my foundation stuff right now.
I

just came back from Grenada. I'm doing a camp for some kids.
And I went to Egypt a few months ago as well. So globally just trying to connect through basketball.

But, you know, my message is mental health. Yeah.
Making sure, God, you know, these kids get the mental health resources they need

as well as the basketball attention.

Were you seeing kids in those countries struggle with mental health too? For sure. Really? 1,000%.
It's a worldwide issue. They're more behind than we are.

They're just catching up to the fact that they're actually dealing with mental health issues.

The stigma is very high overseas.

We're more accepting over here in America, but they're dealing with it and they're more accepting to holistic

you know, resources and wellness. So it's dope.
Yeah. Do you see a lot of athletes struggle with mental health too? For sure.
For sure, for sure.

You know, I feel like every physical injury ultimately equates to a mental injury. You know, that's how nerve endings, you know, they kind of end up in your brain, you know.

So if you're not treating a physical injury with some kind of mental therapy, you're usually going to be like, you know,

I hate to say it, but kind of like Derrick Rose, you know, it's kind of tough for him to mentally get over things because there was no, I don't, I don't know how much

attention was to the mental, you know, it's a lot of physical attention. So that's great advice, man, because people don't even connect the two dots, right?

They sprain an ankle and they don't associate that with a mental thing. Right.
What about Ben Simmons, too, right? Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Like he was an all-star and then had some injuries.

Now it seems like, because he's still the same athleticism, but. Right.
Yeah. Paul George, John Wall, go down the list.

It's tough. You know, I think to gain confidence, you know, get back in that

same realm is mental. You know, it's mental how they got there.
They said the game is 90% mental,

but sometimes it's not respected in that same way. You know what I mean? Yeah.
Did you find yourself when you were playing struggling with that?

I did, you know, at times, and not so much on the court. You know, on the court, I was beasting.
You know, I think off the court,

you know, me getting into basketball so young, I didn't really have a support system. I didn't really have a stable base.
So, you know, I was like lunch meat.

You know, I was just there for like the wolves and the vultures, bro. And like I said, I was hooping on the court, but off the court, it was like a whirlwind.

So, you know, I had to get a handle on that. Wow.
Yeah. Cause you're living two lives, right? You got the basketball life.
That's your, your main job, but then you have a whole life off the court.

Yeah, I mean, multiple, multiple lives. You got your family life.
You got your basketball life. You have your career.
You know, you as an entity off the court.

um how you're going to expand outside of the game um there's a lot to think about yeah and at the time you know marijuana was banned in the nba so i had a lot of you know back and forth with the nba as far as the future of the NBA, where it should go, you know, marijuana use.

And the debate always came back was like, you know, if it's not federally legal, it's never going to be legal. And, you know,

we're always going to test for it. And that's not true.
I knew it wasn't going to be true. And now it's not true.
You know, it's not federally legal. You pay for it.
And it's still legal in the NBA.

You know what I mean? Oh, it's still illegal? It's still legal, not illegal. Yeah, yeah.

Well, it's become legal. They don't test for it anymore.
Yeah. You know what I mean? So,

yeah man you know uh i started smoking late you know i was like 22 so i know about you know your cognitive dissonance and your brain your development and uh i was i was big on that and that's why i don't really promote smoking because i think kids get the wrong message when they when they see it they think i've been doing it my whole life and you know and i i don't believe in that you know i believe in development and um you know once i got into the nba and my second year in the league and you know pains from my body and not being able to eat and flying here and flying there marijuana did become an aid.

It helped a lot, bro.

But until that point, I didn't even use it. Damn, so you couldn't even eat, you said? I mean, it's tough.

You know, you come in three in the morning, you just flew on this plane, you know, you get in late, you know, you need to put something on your stomach, but then you need to sleep as well.

But your time, you know, just you know, time difference. You're

three hours behind. So in your mind, you feel like it's 11, but really it's 3 a.m.
You know what I mean?

And, you know, marijuana has a sedating factor to it that, you know,

push you you down so um i think a lot of guys use it for that it allows them to get that rest you know you you're up you're amped up you know just played in the game bro you bumping bumping dwight howard and joke noah for 40 minutes and now i got to go slate out of rest yeah you know um so it helped with that transition

yeah traveling's tough on the body man i used to travel and then film but now i have to travel the day before dude right it's too tough yeah like by the time i land i'm exhausted yeah bro you need that time ahead you gotta recharge refuel yeah that's why playing on the road is so tough, right?

Because you got to basically gas yourself on the way there, and then you're tired by the time the game starts. Yeah, it's not always that break in between, you know.

Sometimes you jump right into it, which I hope they shorten the season, man, or like limit the games a little bit. You know, I know the fans don't really like that so much, but you know,

for the guys and their bodies, their mental, I think it just make a better quality basketball. I mean, dude, AEC Altairs is here.
Crazy. Crazy, right? Crazy.
It's too many.

And these are star players, so them not playing is hurting their revenue, I bet. Their ticket sales.
1,000%. Yeah.
What do you think? 10-minute quarters?

I think the game should be as long. I just think the amount of games, you know, like,

yeah, you see, it was crazy. Yeah.
Plus preseason, plus playoffs. You know, I've lived that.
Yeah. You know, and preseason is no joke.

You know, pre-preseason, like getting yourself ready for preseason

is, you know, is a strain on the body. So,

you know, it all plays a factor. You know, I think we're seeing it play out in real time.
Yeah.

Yeah, when you break it down like that, that's over 100 games a year you're playing, plus the practice and travel. That's a lot on the body.
A lot, bro. Damn.
That's nuts. Yeah.
82.

You think it should be closer to 60 or? Yeah, 60. I played in the lockout year.
I think we had 62 games that year. It was a good year.
Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't bad.

We started in like December, you know, but we played like three games a week. It was crazy.
You know, we were trying to play catch up. But,

you know, if done the right way,

for sure. You still follow the league pretty actively right now?

My friends.

You know, friends and people I consider family and whatnot, but I'm just so busy that I don't get much TV time for real, bro. It's changed a lot since you played, right? The style of play.
Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, just 43 is a game.
No, for sure. It changed a lot, but I mean, I ran into a GM from...

OGM from the Bucks a couple weeks ago, and he said to me, he was like, bro, you're like. Shout out to today's sponsor, Quince.

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Six years ahead of time. You know, your gameplay, your swag, you know, your approach to the game, what you do.
You as an entity. Because when I came in the league,

it wasn't really cool for guys to do anything except for play basketball.

You know, the moment you drop a song or you're known for fashion, they're like, is your team winning?

You know, if you're not winning, then we don't want to know about anything else that you're doing. You know, shut up and dribble.
You know, and that was really the stigma.

You know, there was a dress code at the time when I was in the NBA.

you couldn't really express yourself you know and that's me like i'm very expressive when it comes to what i wear and like so it felt like a more of a cage at the time and now you know there's a lot more freedom in the nba and um

it's a it's it's a dope league i would you know i wish i was 24 right

going into the nba i think i would i would uh have a have an easier uh career Now there's a lot of fashion in the NBA. They have guys recording them walking in now, right?

And it's all about the fashion. All about it.
You know what I mean? I was was like that off the court, but

you couldn't really show up like that on the court. It was suits.
You know, it was a dress code when I was in the NBA. Damn.
Oh, yeah. When did they get rid of that?

After I left. Ah.
For sure. For sure, for sure.
Yeah. Yeah.
How did Alan Iverson get away with it? They started it after him. Oh, after him.
Okay.

You know, I think it was the malice in the palace that kind of enforced that dress code. And they kind of tightened up the league because there was a, you know, an overall

cloud over the NBA.

You know?

Did the fan Heckland ever get to you ever? Them talking shit? Uh, no, not really. I don't really hear fans for real, man.

You're locked in. I'd be locked in, bro.
Yeah, whenever I see Dream Moss get in a fight, I'm like, why? Yeah. You know? Yeah.
I mean, I get it, I guess, but some of them be saying wild stuff.

Nah, they do. They do.
But, you know,

they paying their money. Let them talk, man.
I mean, at the end of the day,

it's entertainment. Yeah.
And you got to remember that. You know, like, it's like an actor on the screen.
Right. Like, someone may hate your

your role, but it's just your role. I'm in the movie.
You know, they don't know you personally, so you can't really take it personally. You know what I mean? Yeah.
So I think you got to remember that.

I mean, everyone likes a villain, right? Whether it's Dylan Brooks, Draymond, whatever. Yeah.
Sells tickets. Yeah.
Yeah.

Were you big on talking on the court, though? Oh, yeah, I'm trash talking. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
You like getting people's heads? Oh, I mean.

I'm not so much intentional about it, but it's just a part of my game. You know, once I get amped up, and then, you know, I lead with respect.

I'm not, I'm not a disrespectful basketball player, but I mean, it can go there.

Yeah. You know, I've had my KG moments and my,

you know, I played against some guys. Yeah, yeah.

What's the craziest to talk about?

I mean, KG got kind of rowdy.

That's not surprising with him. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I think really I gained a reputation in the NBA that like,

you know, even as a rookie, like,

I wasn't really one to be played with real like I um

I'm not too proud of it you know because it took a lot of therapy and understanding

but yeah yeah I was I was kind of a crash out a little bit so I had to you know what I mean and uh so it was more about just just you know being cool and playing the game and you know I kind of got that respect so that was good.

I mean back when you were playing rookie hazing was a pretty big deal right? Yeah yeah yeah. So I don't blame you.
You kind of want to defend yourself a little bit. Yeah yeah I have my versions of it

yeah brand of genius man thanks for being open about therapy I just started going myself oh good yeah

starting my second session next week

I'm glad that like we could talk about it now before so much shame right yeah yeah right yeah when I was growing up you were growing up yeah even saying that when you were growing up probably like was shameful right right right yeah but I was fortunate bro my mom had me you know she was anti-medicine so she had me see a therapist when I was like 11.

oh wow yeah bro like at the moment there was some acting out or like some behavior issues, you know, when like the whole community was putting everybody on drugs, you know, all the kids on drugs, she was like, nah, you know,

let's see an alternative. Let's see what therapy is.
Respect. It was dope, bro.
You know, I got dope perspective. It was a dude, you know, I grew up in the hood.

So this was an old white dude taking me out to lunch, you know what I'm saying, talking to me about my feelings.

So it gave me a whole another perspective on not only just therapy, but like on the white race.

race yeah you know what i mean like it was it was foreign to me at the time so it was dope that's valuable to get that perspective right because a lot of people grow up in one perspective nah for sure bro and it's like they get handed a bunch of people who give them a negative experience and they it tanks their their their image you know of the overall culture you know what i mean and and like i see that all the time because that's what they're that's given to them and fortunately i was given like a different example and then you know he became like a father figure bro so it's like you know someone like that investing in me and giving me that father energy and I'm a little black boy you know what I mean it's like shows that there's no there's really no separation bro you know what I mean it's people just create it you know what I mean like no I agree let's all go blind and see how separate we really are yeah you know skin color right yeah bro just find something to be to say we're different you know what I mean so I learned at an early age and my dad was was super

my dad went through so much, you know, with racism, but he's so anti-racist. Like, he would not let me or let anybody spew any hatred.

And he just, he just had a very understanding and forgiving heart. And I think that that's the most important thing is just finding understanding and forgiveness.

Because we all going through some shit, bro.

Bro, facts.

Forgiveness is so important to me. Facts, bro.
My father,

he didn't forgive certain people in his life and I saw it eat out of his health. Yeah.

So for me, it's like, let me forgive everyone, even if they like really screwed me over or scammed me or whatever. Yeah, bro.
I'm not going to live with that resentment. For real.
It's not worth it.

You already hurt me once, bro. You're not going to continue to hurt me for the rest of my life every time I think about you.

I got you. But there's people living with that resentment.
It's just deteriorating their health.

Because I feel like sometimes people feel like if they let go of the resentment, then they're letting the person off the hook. Right.

It's like your resentment isn't punishing them. It's punishing you.
Yep.

They're going to get what's coming to them. You know what I'm saying?

So it's like, sometimes we feel like if we forgive them, we let them off the hook. But no, you just, you just, you know, you're choosing not to drink the poison anymore.

I'm forgiving them for me, you know? Right. For my health.

You got to reshift

that. Selfish deal.
Yeah, dude. Yeah, because

I know everyone has their enemies or whatever, but it's just, it's not worth it. Right.
You know?

What's the next move for you, though? What are you focused on this here, music?

Well, I'm heavy into my camps, my youth camps um just giving back you know uh my purpose is in people bro like i have a huge passion for people especially kids and like i said before like i didn't have that support system so i want to make sure i can build that show the importance of it and create that for kids you know around the world you know some kind of support system and stability and community so that they go into these situations they go into life feeling supported bro like it's huge love it's huge man you know and um

um also teaching financial financial literacy, business development, personal development. I just dropped my e-book.
It's on my website. And it's the student athlete edition.
Nice.

So it's directly for student athletes. And it's a three-week course, something to do every day.

And it starts with personal development, telling your story, knowing who you are, making sure all your socials add up and tell the same message, branding.

And then business development from marketing, networking, how to network, you know what I mean? What questions to ask.

And then financial, I mean, financial literacy.

Stocks, bonds, cryptocurrency. There's some AI in there.
So just things to make them think and develop. You know, kids are getting money early now, man.
They're getting NIL deals and whatnot. So,

you know, if they just register to my website, they can get the e-book for free. Nice.

And I want to, you know, it just goes under my umbrella of how I want to, you know, leave my stamp on the world, bro, for real. I appreciate that.
We'll link that in the video for for sure. For sure.

Thank you. Yeah, thanks for coming on, man.
And good luck tonight. Nah, you do, man.
Appreciate it. Check him out, guys.
Peace.

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