Larry Sanders signed a $44 million contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks in August 2013.
He was considered one of the best defensive players in the league at one point in his career.
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“I was their nightmare,” he told the Guardian. “I was like, ‘I can really play this game. This game is really meant for me!’”
But just 16 months after joining the Bucks he walked out of the facility for the final time and did not pick up a basketball again for two years.
The Bucks selected Sanders out of VCU with the 15th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
On the surface, his professional career but behind the scenes there was a struggle during his second year in the league, as he battled off the court issues with a lack of a meaningful support system.
In December 2013, Sanders was sidelined for 25 games after tearing a ligament in his thumb during an altercation in a nightclub.
TMZ reported that the incident was sparked when the center was splashed by champagne.
He was ruled out for the rest of the 2013-14 season in March due to a fractured orbital bone.
In April 2014, Sanders was given a five-game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy after testing positive for marijuana – a substance the league no longer tests for.
By Christmas, everything came to a head.
On December 23, the Bucks were stung by the Charlotte Hornets and new coach Jason Kidd angrily canceled a planned break and ordered the team in for practice.
Sanders attacked the Christmas Eve session with everything he had, but his body broke down in the locker room.
“I was cramping from my ears to my toes,” Sanders told the Guardian. “Full body cramps.”
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Sanders had suffered from the stress reaction before and was hospitalized over the festive period.
He did not set foot in the facility again.
“I physically and mentally could not get myself back there,” he added.
“Nothing could get me in the car to go there. I had such a block.
“I didn’t touch a basketball for the next two years. Not a shot, not a dribble.”
Sanders did not grow up wanting to be an NBA star but was excited to enter the league.
What he found did not live up to his expectations.
“You shoot a million jump shots and you want to get paid,” he said.
“It was a blessing but it was also a lot. You come from nothing and then you become the one that has everything. People who are supposed to guide you become your dependents. And you’re too young for that.
“You get fed to the sharks in a lot of ways. You can find yourself in a very vulnerable position.”
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NBA’s Greatest
At the time, there was a stigma surrounding discussing mental health in pro sports, but Sanders opening up paved the way for more players to be open about their battles.
“My body and my mind are elite,” he said. “But my surroundings and my environment just wasn’t.”
“There was no way I was the first one [to have mental health issues]. “But I was the first one to speak up.”
A father of two when he walked away, Sanders spent two stints in rehab to put him back on the right path.
He landed a contract alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 but was waived after a few games.
Sanders was criticized for leaving the NBA in his prime, but has no qualms about his decision.
“In a lot of situations, it’s very admirable for a person to take that risk and follow their heart and go out of their intuition and their passion,” he told The Players’ Tribune.
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“I think for me, it just seemed like a crazier, higher risk because of my higher-paying job. I think this is a seen to be a desirable, lucrative job and position.
“So people say, ‘Oh, how could how could you be unhappy there? How could that be a place you don’t want to be?’
“Values and the relationship with the people I love around me, that’s my real riches. That’s my lasting wealth.”
Sanders signed for the Taoyuan Taiwan Beer Leopards in August 2024.
On October 30 last year, the Leopards terminated their contract relationship with Sanders.
In February 2025, Sanders posted on his Instagram that he had signed for a team in the Dominican Republic.
Now, he appears to be running various basketball camps around the world, and recently held one in Cairo, Egypt.