Former NBA player Tyrell Terry has retired from basketball aged 22, saying the sport led to him experiencing “the darkest times of my life”.
He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2020 following an outstanding college career with Stanford.
However he featured just 11 times before moving to the Memphis Grizzlies last season, playing only twice.
“I can’t continue this fight any longer for something I have fallen out of love with,” he wrote on Instagram.
Terry was released by the Grizzlies in the summer.
“Today I decided to let go of the game that has formed a large part of my identity,” he continued.
“While I have achieved amazing accomplishments, created unforgettable memories, and made lifelong friends… I’ve also experienced the darkest times of my life. To the point where instead of building me up, it began to destroy me.”
He said the sport caused him anxiety which left him with “intrusive thoughts, waking up nauseous, and finding myself struggling to take normal breaths because of the rock that would sit on my chest that seemed to weigh more than I could carry”.
“To most, I will be forever known as a bust, a failure, or a waste of talent,” he added.
“While those may be true when it comes to basketball, it is the biggest failures in life that lead to the greatest success.”
Terry said he was now looking to explore his identity outside basketball and apologised to “those that I have let down”.
“But I’m headed down a different path now, one that will hopefully lead to happiness and being able to love myself again,” he said.
