Athletes open up for mental health day talks

Karl-Anthony Towns has been traded from Minnesota, lost the conference finals and won the NBA title for his childhood team — and still feels he is in the period of grief that began six years ago.

Just 10 days before the New York Knicks’ banner-raising celebration, the All-Star big man marked World Mental Health Day by sharing his ongoing emotional journey following the death of his mother to complications from COVID-19.

Entering the first game of this year’s NBA Finals, he said he felt “this very big calm” wash over him. He was taken back to amateur youth games with crowds so small he could spot his mom from anywhere.

Rich Kleiman, left, and NBA player Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks sit for a discussion at the Project Healthy Minds World Mental Health Day Festival in New York on Saturday.

Photo: AP

“I felt like it was kinda just me, her and the game of basketball,” he told the audience gathered on Saturday by the nonprofit Project Healthy Minds. “I was able to be like an artist out there. I was able to have my paint brush and have a canvas with the court. And I was able to just paint a beautiful picture for her about the love I have for the game. The love I have to show the world because of her.”

There was a time when he had lost that love for the game. Towns, whose bright smile became a constant image of the Knicks’ championship run, said basketball “felt hollow” after his mother’s death. “I didn’t know if I wanted to do it anymore,” he said.

However, Towns found some solace in Arnie Kander, a well-known strength and wellness coach.

“Just to be heard, to be able to talk to someone you can trust, be able to really unload all that pain onto it and allow them to understand your feelings and articulate your feelings the right way, it makes life much lighter,” he said. “And I felt myself getting lighter every time we kept talking.”

Project Healthy Minds hopes Towns’ example would inspire others to seek mental health care. The tech nonprofit runs a free online marketplace for finding therapy, psychiatry, support groups and other services. Its annual World Mental Health Day festival in New York offers an all-day schedule of yoga, art therapy and speakers.

Speaking on Saturday with Towns was Boardroom chief executive officer Rich Kleiman, the longtime manager for NBA superstar Kevin Durant and a new member of Project Healthy Minds’ board.

Kleiman said that these sorts of conversations are growing more prevalent among athletes. DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love kick-started the conversation eight years ago when DeRozan tweeted about depression and Love then published a first-person essay about anxiety. Kleiman recalled trading stories about anxiety attacks with Love for several hours one night shortly afterward.

Most players would not feel that comfortable constantly telling their story, Kleiman said. Mental health is not a topic of discussion in the locker room, but he said players are certainly more aware of its impact.

“They just carry so much weight and speak to so many people,” Kleiman said before the panel. “I think it says a lot that Karl Towns is feeling comfortable enough right before the season starts to be able to be so open about it.”

Another panel brought together former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall and Gotham FC forward Midge Purce for a conversation about finding purpose outside of performance. Marshall, a six-time Pro Bowl player who publicly shared his borderline personality disorder diagnosis in 2011, said therapy showed him how to “connect with his brain.” He even started taking his therapy sessions in the cafeteria to normalize it for others.

Purce discussed her evolving definition of “tough.” Raised by her dad, she said she grew up believing toughness meant “no tears.” However, she credited her teammates with teaching her “it’s OK to feel sad and upset.”

“I think tough is being able to feel all those things that are touching you and touching your heart, but still finding that resilience to go forward while living all of it,” she told the crowd.

Saturday’s sports focus offers a glimpse into Project Healthy Minds’ future programming.

With interest in women’s sports growing and live sports remaining a powerful convener in an otherwise fragmented media landscape, Project Healthy Minds chief executive officer Phil Schermer finds that athletes are well suited to bring their message to the masses.

Athletes, according to Schermer, also shape the US public’s notions of strength. It makes sense to him that they could then model that “it is strong to talk about your emotions.”

“There need to be more men — and more men who are archetypes of strength — being vulnerable,” Schermer said. “Being willing to talk about these things. And role modeling that it can serve as fuel for your greatest success.”

The Knicks championship run became a rare moment of monoculture, Schermer said.