“Sometimes I’m like, ‘Man, I had a couple of those moments'”: Damian Lillard Opens Up About Mental Health Struggles Follow Simone Biles’ Decision To Leave Tokyo Olympics

Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard, Simone Biles, and athletes from every sport may all often struggle with balancing both their mental and physical health.

Recently, the US gymnast decided to opt out of the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. The move was met with both support and criticism, but at the end of the day, athletes were able to relate to her and understand where she was coming from.

In light of these events, Damian Lillard also opened up about some times when he felt like the mental strain was getting to him.

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Damian Lillard Speaks Up About Battling Mental Health After Simone Biles’ Decision

While it’s easy to judge an athlete based on their physical play and how they maintain their body, noticing their mental health is obviously a much harder task.

The concept of mental health is still very much a taboo among the sporting world as athletes often feel this subconcious pressure to maintain their grit or toughness so as to not seem ‘weak’ to their fans.

As a result, many of them choose to ignore their issues or hide it away and take out their battles in often unhealthy ways.

This puts them in dark spots more often than not which can get overbearing at times. Damian Lillard cited some tough times in his career as well:

Lillard’s comments are something most NBA players, and athletes in general can probably relate to. Performing night in and night out with the pressure and expectations of millions around you can get overwhelming. It’s precisely why Simone Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics and maybe why Lillard felt this way.

The important thing is to always be supportive of athletes when such scenarios arise. That sets up a more comfortable environment for them to come forward with their difficulties and battle it in the right manner.

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Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
Basketball Damian Lillard NBA Portland Trailblazers

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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