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Metta World Peace on mental health treatment in sports: 'Long ways to go'

Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

For as much as he may be remembered for the Malice at the Palace, or for his late-career name change to Metta World Peace, there was a time when Ron Artest was one of the few professional athletes open about seeking help for mental health issues.

Following a victory in the 2010 NBA Finals, Artest publicly thanked his sports psychiatrist.

Roy Hibbert, who recently opened up to ESPN in a lengthy interview that included his forthright thoughts about playing with new Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant, said he thinks Artest's admission made it easier for others.

"I felt that when he did that, it kind of opened the doors to make it somewhat OK," Hibbert said. "I think it was great that he actually did that."

Hibbert first visited a psychologist in high school, well before Artest's comments, but it's possible Artest helped take some of the taboo away from mental health issues and mental performance in basketball.

World Peace now credits his sports psychologist with helping him remain selfless within a team concept, learning to stop playing upset, and separating the game from the experiences of his life before basketball. Those seem like fairly common hurdles players may run into, and while World Peace has heard privately from other players who were thankful for his words, he doesn't think the sport is where it ultimately needs to be to help players mentally:

I think we have a long ways to go. We try to let people know that this is an issue that should be discussed in the household, in the schools, amongst friends. There's things that they're going through that can make you a better person, that can help you connect better with people and with your environment. And also to just understand yourself. People don't understand themselves. And once you understand yourself, it's like, wow, I can do so many great things.

If you look at Stephen Curry and his father and you look at his mother - look at that support system. He's not going to go through the same problems that a Larry Sanders went through. That's a part that's necessary. You can't laugh at that, because everybody can't grow up with a father and a mother and a household, but those people are looked at as better.
...
It's not about, "This guy is a good guy." It's about, "How can you help this guy who's going through all these problems?" How many times do you see in the NBA or in professional sports (that) families are breaking up? That should not be the norm. They've got to help these people. There's so many broken families. So many broken families.

World Peace is right that teams and the league as a whole is still figuring out how to navigate the incredibly complex mental aspect of sports. If more players can be open like World Peace, like Larry Sanders, like Royce White, it may help remove some of the remaining stigma unfairly associated with mental health illnesses and struggles with mental performance.

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