NBA star John Wall says emotional and physical hardships led him to consider suicide

NPR | By Ayana Archie

Published August 31, 2022 at 2:13 AM EDT

John Wall is shown on Dec. 13, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia prior to tip-off at an NBA game.

John Wall, a guard for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, shared that he contemplated suicide in recent years after facing a series of emotional and physical struggles.

In early 2019, Wall underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon. Additionally, his mother and grandmother died a year apart from each other, all amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's the darkest place I've ever been in," he said in an interview clip posted to Twitter on Monday. "At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide."

“I thought about committing suicide. Tearing my Achilles, my mom passing, my grandma dying a year later, in the midst of COVID. Me going to chemotherapy, sitting by my mom taking her last breaths wearing the same clothes for 3 days straight.”

John Wall on his last 2-3 years 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/Kr01c2lqrb
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 29, 2022

Wall said he sat with his mother in chemotherapy while she took her last breaths. He eventually enrolled in therapy.

"Looking at all that, I'm like, if I can get through this, I can get through anything in life," he said. "Everybody goes through something, you know. We all went through tough times. Nobody got it easy, but I don't think a lot of people could get through what I went through."

He added, "To me, to be back on top where I want to be and see the fans still want me to play, having the support from my hometown — just support, period — means a lot."

Wall was selected by the Washington Wizards as the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft. He spent nearly a decade of his career with the team and was a five-time NBA All-Star during that time.

He tore his Achilles tendon in 2019 and could not play for 12 months. Despite that timeline expiring amid the NBA's "bubble" season during the COVID-19 pandemic, he did not finish the season with the Wizards, and was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2020.

He did not play much during his time with the Rockets, due to a knee injury, and in 2022, he signed a two-year, $13.2 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. He is now averaging 20.6 points per game, 6.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds, according to the NBA.