Dooling quit NBA due to undiagnosed PTSD from childhood sexual assault
(Warning: Story contains graphic content)
Former NBA guard Keyon Dooling says post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from being sexually assaulted at age 7 led to his hospitalization and ultimately his decision to end his professional basketball career.
He detailed his experiences in an essay for The Players' Tribune published Tuesday, revealing that he and a friend were both sexually assaulted by an older boy who was a friend of Dooling's brother.
The boy, who was about 14, put on a pornographic film. After it ended, Dooling wrote, "(The older boy) started making me and my friend touch him. And then he forced us to perform oral sex on him.
"I didn’t know what to think or what was going on. I was just confused, and angry. I was a kid."
Dooling says he carried the burden of that abuse throughout his life. He started drinking at age 10 and also used drugs, sex, and basketball to suppress his emotions.
After being groped by a stranger in a bathroom in September 2012, memories of his assault came flooding back. Dooling began to experience "crushing anxiety," along with paranoia and an inability to eat or sleep. Not long after, he drove to Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge's office and told him he was quitting professional basketball. Days later, Dooling checked himself into a mental institution.
"But the Celtics never stopped being loyal to me," he wrote. "They were unbelievable. They kept things quiet and let me get some help on my own terms. And honestly, getting help saved my life. (Then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers) and Danny arranged for me to see some of the best specialists in the country ..."
After consulting a doctor at Harvard Medical School, everything started to change.
"That’s where the healing truly began for me, because he explained to me that there was a name for the feeling that I was dealing with," Dooling wrote. "I was actually experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from my childhood."
Dooling played for seven teams in his 13-season career, averaging seven points and 2.2 assists per game. He made seven more appearances during the 2012-13 season before leaving the NBA for good at age 32.
"I was sexually assaulted as a child. It did not define me as a person. It did not hold me back from reaching my dreams or from raising four amazing children," Dooling wrote.
"If you are hurting, get some help."