AR: Oh for sure. I mean, I have three setbacks during my rehab in the beginning. And even when I came back in the bubble, I was about 85 percent healthy, but I wasn’t, not necessarily 100 percent healthy. I was cleared to go, but at the same time, you still have that mental aspect of it, of like second guessing yourself and just feeling free to overexert yourself at will. So I still had that psychological part to get past. I wouldn’t necessarily say I was fully healthy or fully ready, but at the same time, you gotta get yourself back out there somehow, some way and kinda break that barrier.
And then, just took some time to myself after those long three years of just enjoying life and enjoying my little sisters grow up and watching them play basketball and help them form and shape their games before they went off to college. TCU and Duke. It was definitely a joy to watch them because if I was still playing, I definitely would have missed them. So it was good to help out with them and, just enjoying the fine life of just being healthy for the first time was my big thing.
It was nice to do that, but at the same time, it was like… Do I wanna continue to play basketball or do I wanna head in a different direction in terms of finding a new career? So, I had to definitely sit down myself. And, a lot of conversations with my girlfriend in terms of just, I’m finally in a good spot. Do I wanna go back out there and risk being injured again potentially, not to say it happened, but, it’s always that possibility any time you step back on the floor. And just going out there and pursuing it. So I’m 32 years old, not necessarily ready to retire and move on. So, that’s why I’m back here now. So, going out there at the same time, I didn’t want necessarily have the injury take me away. I wanted to walk away myself. So, that’s like a lot of motivation for me, get back out there and break that narrative.
Just me getting back to the roots of myself, I’m just going out there and enjoying the basketball the way I know how to enjoy the basketball instead of the narrative over the years of like, oh, he can’t do this, you can’t do that. And I’m like, I’ve done this my whole life and I’ve gotten to that point to where I’ve even reached the NBA.
So that’s where I’mat… To bring basketball full circle for me, just to see on the American side and see it on the European side and just travel the world. No better way to travel the world than doing something you love and getting paid to do at the same time. So, it’s pretty dope to do so. It’s a blessing.
