The truth behind Keyon Dooling, and why he retired

Um, that's life to an extent. Everybody deals with personal issues.

Not everybody deals with abuse, and while the article doesn't go into it greatly, it seems as if Dooling had to deal with it as a child, and that certainyl can take its toll.

But that's kind of irrelevant to his basketball career, imo. Because no matter what they say about being away from family, or spending a lot of time at the practice facility, the fact of the matter is the reward ratio is much higher for professional athletes than for the average joe. Much, much higher. The pay, the 2-3 months of pure vacation potential, etc.

Does it suck that he has some personal issues to deal with? of course, but then there's guys without the NBA career with personal issues as well. If he wanted to step away for whatever reason, more power to him. He appears to be very thoughtful, caring guy with a wonderful family.

But as a fan, I am still well within my right to be disapointed when their play sucks. I never resort to personal insults and don't think any fans should

 

Sad story

 

He could easily play 3 more years for $6M and donate that to an organization for children who have been abused. You have a better opportunity to help people as an NBA player as opposed to being retired. According to Basketball Reference, he has career earnings of $29M which is about $13M after agent fees and taxes. He's complaining that everyone asking him for money has taken a toll on him, the solution isn't to stop making money, it's to stop giving it.

 

So you're saying by not playing anymore he's being selfish because he could donate his earnings? How do you know he hasn't already been donating to the organizations?

 

gotta turn your back on the past eventually, Keyon


make that chedda if i was him

 

He obviously has, which is why he's quoted as saying that he's tired of getting calls from people asking him for money and help. The solution isn't to just quit. Believe it or not, being in the NBA is a privilege. Think about the hundreds of people in the D-League, or thousands of players in Division I, II, and III dreaming of being in the NBA. What is he going to do as a retired 32 year old?

What can you do as a 32 year old that you can't wait till you're 36 to do?

 

I understand that, but he just doesn't want to play anymore. Is that really so bad?

 

I think this statement is 100% false.

But I appreciate the sentiment of the thread, and we have to respect the difficulty that it takes to deal with emotional trauma like this. It's sad that abused/depressed players probably don't get the help they need.

 

Whats it to you?

 

He's played 12 seasons, which is a good career length. It just concerns me when he says he's tired of giving, people always asking for something. Does he expect people to stop asking him for help if he retires? It makes me wonder why he's quitting the game. An NBA season is 8 months at most a year. That's 4 months a year of nothing but being at home with his kids (June - October). More than most parents and let's not forget that his wife is probably not working.

 

So because there are many scrub players who wish to be in the NBA you should just keep playing? Lol gtfo. He should be playing for himself not for some random people he doesn't know. He is going to spend time with his family and he is already set for life.

 

Some of the posts in here are ridiculous. Money does not just make your problems disappear. And calling him selfish because he's retiring? lol, wtf? seriously? This is a famous quote by Kahlil Gibran, and I think a fellow poster has it as their signature. "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."

 

Sometimes we forget that some posters we insult here are human beings too.

 

100% false? Really? So ALL players in NBA history have always been better off than the rest of us?


Are you that narrow?

 

Not entirely true.

Especially for the big names. Remember those guys like Durant and Lebron must fulfill their duty to Team USA. Right after the finals they are off to London to work and work some more...for them it's really like 2 months...and for those guys there really isn't a period where they just stop working which is why they are so good.

But still...once they retire at 35+ or whenever that may be they should be financially well off for the rest of their lives...although we know that's not always the case...

 

Why all the negitivity? Dooling got tired of the grind and retired early. So what?! I did the same thing. Now I'm not a millionaire, but I was making more money than I ever dreamed about and there were some things my wife & I wanted to do that took longer than a week. So I retired & we are doing them.

Yes, Dooling could have waited a few years ( as well as we could have); but if you have the means & ability to do what you've always wanted to do, why wait? You can have eternal peace, but life isn't eternal.