FC Barcelona swingman Alex Abrines is enjoying basketball more than ever before. Abrines is in his second season with Barca, the club he first joined as a teenager in 2012. He was drafted by the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder before his 20th birthday and eventually played three seasons there before he felt the need to step away from basketball due to mental health matters. It was hard for him to even think about basketball but with the help of friends, family and mental health professionals, Abrines found the joy to play basketball again and returned to Barcelona to compete for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title.
"I'm so happy. Obviously, I had a rough time years ago and I thought I couldn't be playing basketball anymore. But luckily, with work and with the help of professionals, I was able to enjoy the game and actually enjoy it way more than I was enjoying it before it happened. So I'm really happy that I could make it to this part I am now," Abrines said.
Abrines said he waited longer than expected to talk about his problem and will be forever thankful to his wife for stepping up for him when he had a breakdown in Oklahoma City.
"When I was there, it was only me and my wife, so obviously, she was the main pillar for my recovery. Obviously, I had help from professionals on the team and outside of the team. But it reached one point that I should have talked before. At one point, I didn't talk enough and it hit me in the face and I couldn't do anything to stop it," Abrines said. "So I decided to take care of my mental health because it was my priority and I stopped playing basketball for probably six months, more or less.
"And then, well, with time I was getting better and thinking about basketball again and trying. I wanted to try, to see how I felt and luckily I felt better than expected, and now I can play and be happy and don't think about what happened before."
Being a professional basketball player comes with a lot of pressure, not just from fans and teams, but also from oneself, if you are a fierce competitor like Abrines is.
"It's tougher than they think. I think it's not only playing against people. There is a lot of pressure from coaches, and obviously from yourself because, of course, you want to play at your highest every game and every practice. And, you know, it doesn't work like that. So I think you got to work on your brain and your mental health like you work on your physical game or your tactical game," he said. "It's part of you and it's really an important part of you. I learned a lot from that. Now, I think teams or players are seeking help before, just try to prevent like you prevent injuries, and I think we are improving in this position."
When he felt it was time to come back, Abrines released an open letter to basketball in video format called #QueridoBalon (#DearBall). He started it with "Dear friend, what a mess! So much time spent together and you do this to me", and ended it with "Dear ball, I am back, it's me, Alex. Thank you for always being there waiting." Abrines felt he could help some people by expressing his feelings.
"When I reached that point that I couldn't even look at basketball on TV or touch the ball, like I started to think why this was happening to me. Then with recovery, I just realized that the problem was not basketball. And that's why I wrote the letter also, because I know so many people are going through those problems, and I know I just wanted to try to help," Abrines said.
"If they see that I or a professional basketball player has those problems, that it's supposed to be like a privilege. And we have money, we have the best cars, we have everything, and we are going through that, like, anybody could go through that. So I think we did a pretty good job, my team and I, with that video letter, because I had so many messages after that saying that I helped him a lot."
Barca reached out to him during those tough times and when it was time to return to basketball, it was Abrines's first choice, too.
"They were really supportive, actually. I got a phone call from the president back in the day just saying that if I needed anything, they were there to help. Also, the club where I was playing, Oklahoma, also did the same, even though I was not with the club anymore. So I was lucky with that, even though I wasn't playing for any club at the moment, I had two of those that I played for that were ready to help, and they were worried about me," Abrines said.
"So obviously when I started to think about playing basketball again, I think Barca was the only option. I know I wanted to be back home and after what happened, I just needed to feel like home and Barca was the only club."