Can basketball help alleviate Depression?
Over the last few months, I have battled against what I can only assume is depression. This is miles from a self-diagnosis and more of a “feel it in your bones” resignation. I certainly have more questions than answers. Where does the pain of cumulative regret end and chemical imbalances begin? How much of what I have been feeling is temporary and situational versus an unshakeable new way of being? How solidly am I squelching this internal tempest around others or am I as transparent as I feel?
This sort of confessional is not common fodder for a sports website. Yet as I reflected on the last few months of struggle, I started to think about other basketball fans who feel as forlorn as I have. With so much going on in the world to be anxious about, with plenty of curveballs that can get you down, what can following a professional sports team impart to fans that might buoy their spirits in turbulent times? Is there a way to calibrate fandom to help rather than hinder your efforts to be a happier, healthier person?
Dumbing down of media
One of my strongest childhood memories is hearing my parents argue elsewhere in the house. Half the time, it seemed like the subject of the tussle did not matter. When the voices are loud and the substance is thin in today’s sports media landscape, I think about those feelings as a kid. “Why are they arguing about this?” Yet talking head shows rely on the contrivance of argument for the sake of having one. They say conflict is the heart of drama — but it is only compelling when arrived at organically.
Manufactured drama in the form of needless, shallow debates with yelling as the default toggle has an allure. Like moths to a flame, our brains are pulled in if we allow it. While you might find some of the personalities occasionally insightful or humorous, the cumulative impact of low common denominator pablum gives the sports fan’s mind malnourishment.
When you see an industry titan cut a swath of talent and then pivot sign a bombastic outsider, it is clear that journalistic and/or editorial value is no longer profitable. The recent ouster of Zach Lowe should sadden basketball fans. While Lowe will be successful in his future endeavors, the audience will be niche compared to the massive platform he was just shuffled away from.
For the sake of my mental health, I am doing all I can to minimize exposure to empty-calorie sports talk that leaves me feeling exhausted. My edict — and one that I recommend to you, dear reader — is to seek out sources of analysis that may be harder to find or take longer to consume but expand your knowledge base, challenge preconceived notions, and prove worthy of your attention. While your resulting recipe will defer from mine, aiming to protect our sanity is a must and requires conscious choices.
Embrace uncertainty
One of the best things about being a sports fan is the moment we are surprised. The natural extrapolation that what has come before will continue constantly blows up before our eyes as players and teams break through and overachieve or lose cohesion and relevance faster than expected. A trend I have found frustrating — even a bit depressing — is the need to diagnose future potential with an air of certainty.
A stroll down memory lane in NBA Draft analysis from years gone by provides one belly laugh after another as player potential and comparisons routinely miss the mark. This does not stop predictive analysis from being attempted each year. Why? Because we crave to know what will happen before it does even if we know that pursuit is folly.
Take Dallas Mavericks phenom center Dereck Lively II as an example. Following a rookie year in which he exceeded most expectations by a country mile, I have seen jousting on social media about the right comparisons for the player. Is he the modern-day Tyson Chandler, or will his offensive game flourish to the point where he challenges the upside of his contemporary Chet Holmgren on that end of the floor? My answer? I don’t know, and neither do you.
Based strictly on his timeline, Lively is the equivalent of a college junior. Why are so many voices looking to argue over his potential? Why does his future need to be pigeonholed when there is so much upside? Because that is what we do now in “Hot Take Culture.” We categorize and then argue, and it is tiresome.
A friend asked me a few months ago who I was taking in a playoff series. My answer that I was just going to enjoy watching the games without picking a side seemed like a foreign language to him. It seems my friend and his social circle use sports as a way to brag when they are right and expect to be jeered when they are wrong. I told him I have no problem with sports betting and the analysis that goes with it but when everything has to be predicted while you consume live sports, something is fundamentally broken.
To protect my mental health, I am guarding against predicting and staking out the exact contours of too many future games, seasons, careers, etc. Will I still offer some analysis here and there? Sure — but I will also make sure I enjoy plenty of this season watching games in which I have no stake beyond observation. I want to be able to find joy — at least some of the time — in being surprised rather than having that surprise effectively prove me wrong in retrospect.
Finding friendship
My enduring Mavericks moment from last season did not happen in the playoff run. It was the arm-in-arm walk up the court by Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. As the Mavericks battled for an overtime win versus the Houston Rockets, these two phenomenal basketball players were comfortable enough to show all of us that they truly are friends.
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images
I can only imagine how tough it is for a young superstar to deal with the constant roster turnover in the NBA – something far less stable than playing for his national team where friendships blossom over many years. Call me crazy but seeing this relationship emerge meant as much to me as a Mavericks fan as anything the team achieved on the court. Watching so much basketball through the years, I have seen great teams win it all without giving off the vibe that they hang out in the offseason like brothers. Doncic and Irving formed a bond of trust on and off the court that fueled their team to the NBA Finals and their connection is now the backbone of the franchise as it heads into a new season.
Friendship is one of the best things about being alive. I have faith that covering the Mavs again this year here at MMB will help lift my spirits, but I am not naive enough to believe that alone will bring me back to equilibrium. I know I have to do what I can where I can to guard my mental state. That includes making intentional choices regarding diet, exercise, and what I direct my mental energy towards – which again, will not involve any talking head sports talk shows (carefully curated Mavs podcasts are exempt).
Depression is messy and nebulous and it can feel like a battle you wage every day but cannot share with anyone. That’s why I wrote this post. To tell the world I am doing my best and to reach out to others who are doing their level best as well. Hang in there, folks.
If you have been downtrodden over the last few months and feeling alone, please know as you flip on a Mavs game this year, there’s a good chance we will be watching it together under the same umbrella of fandom. I wish all of our readers peace, tranquility, and a respite from the pressures of our current moment in history.