With at least 41 road games on the regular season schedule, NBA players spend much of their year away from their families. Chris Paul and DeMar DeRozan have been through that grind for dozens of seasons and they recently discussed the hardship of being away from their loved ones.
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“When I left Toronto, it was like, you know, the first time not, you know, having my kids with me,” DeRozan said on his podcast ‘Dinners with DeMar’. “That was my decompress, like vibe, I could go home and just hold my daughter and watch them play, watch them laugh. And you know, if it’s a bad game I’m going home to crickets.”
For DeRozan, the challenge began in 2018 when the Raptors traded him to San Antonio. After spending nine seasons in Toronto, the California native had established himself and his family in the city. Having to leave them behind to play in Texas was the hardest part of his transition, he admitted.
“I couldn’t imagine playing in the f***ing ‘90s without Facetime or something, at least…Like, my kids know. Before school, you call me, Facetime me…When you get out of school, call me. I need to hear about your whole day. Before bed, everything. And that’s kind of a thing that keeps me going,” the six-time All-Star revealed.
DeMar is the father of two daughters aged 11 and 8. He reflected on the pain of missing some of their milestone moments due to his professional commitments. In particular, he shared his frustration over missing his younger daughter’s school dance and seeing another parent chaperone her instead.
CP3 is also a father of two and has been in the league longer than DeMar. He sympathized with the Sacramento Kings forward and shared his own story of transitioning out of LA after six years with the Clippers. “When I went to Houston, I moved 15 people,” the 12-time All-Star shared.
For Paul, being around his family was as important to his game as anything else.
“Little victories to me, like you just don’t know. Like, my wife might text me someday like, ‘On my way to the game’ or…She might be like, ‘Hey we all going to go to dinner after the game’…It sound crazy but my game might be better that night because, like, I’m excited to go to dinner. I got something to look forward to,” the 39-year-old explained.
Both Paul and DeRozan admitted that they have faced dark days when they couldn’t look forward to such moments. Even when they aren’t moving between cities or conferences, they spend much of their year on the road and away from home.
DeMar has taken advantage of his growing understanding of the mental side of the game to advocate for more transparency around the subject. In 2018, the small forward tweeted about feeling depressed, becoming one of the first NBA players to publicly express such feelings. Two weeks later, DeRozan’s path would be followed by NBA champion Kevin Love, who took to ‘The Players Tribune’ to address his own experience with panic attacks.
The understanding and advocacy of mental health is growing in the professional sports world. With veterans like DeMar and CP3 currently championing the movement, it’s time for the next generation of superstars to step up to the plate.
