Ryan Broekhoff knew he had to act when he wasn’t being truthful.
On the surface, Broekhoff looked his happy self, regularly smiling and fronting up with a seemingly positive outlook on life.
Behind the brave face, though, he was struggling with mental health and anxiety issues that date back to his youth.
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Broekhoff had hit a wall and fallen out of love with basketball following a tumultuous 18-month period, including being waived from the NBA following two and a half years in the world’s best league.
He also experienced a challenging maiden NBL season with South East Melbourne due to injury and form, which was heightened by the stress of living out of a suitcase while renting because he couldn’t find a house for his family to buy.
The array of issues sparked Broekhoff’s anxiety, prompting him to pull out of the Boomers Tokyo Olympic squad citing mental health issues.
“I felt for a long time like I had this wall in front of me,” Broekhoff said in the lead-up to the Phoenix’s home opener against the New Zealand Breakers on Saturday night.
“When I was speaking to family or media, I just gave the same old answer saying everything was good.
“But it wasn’t the truth and it felt like I wasn’t being truthful with myself and everyone around me with how I was and how I was feeling.”
The last thing Broekhoff wanted was to pull out of the Boomers Olympic squad.
He also possessed a passionate aspiration to end Australia’s medal drought, but he didn’t want to let the team down if he wasn’t mentally ready.
It was a “tough” decision to make, but one Broekhoff doesn’t regret.
“I didn’t want to go in with the Boomers half-hearted and it came to a point where I felt comfortable to be a little bit vulnerable and more honest than what I had been,” he conceded.
“I had to make a stand and reach out and get some professional help to bridge that gap between where I think I should be and where I was.
“I had to seek someone else out of my immediate family to really open up and talk about things from the past and present to figure out why I was in this funk and not really in the moment in every aspect of life.”
Broekhoff couldn’t travel during the off-season due to Covid protocols, but he wasn’t too worried as he just needed to a reset mentally.
He spent more time with family and made the effort to have the difficult yet important discussion with his specialist as his stress and anxiety levels had reached breaking point.
“I just needed to take a step back from basketball in general to get my personal life more stable,” he said.
“Things like finding a house to make sure that my wife and son were being taken care of and had their stability as well so we’re not living out of suitcases and trying to find a house.
“I’ve had a move a few times in the last few years and had to drag my kid here there and everywhere and I could start to see the impact it was having on him.
“That was hard to see, so it was a culmination of things, including my history and I had to do what was right and get some help to figure it all out.”
Thanks to the support of his specialist and family, Broekhoff feels like a different man.
He has found himself, and in turn his passion and enthusiasm for basketball.
“It is like a new lease on life,” he said.
“I’m really enjoying being around my teammates and playing again, whereas last season l wasn’t happy with how I was playing and contributing to the team.
“Basketball comes pretty easy once everything else is in line, so it has been nice to ramp it back up and find the joy and the happiness that comes along with playing.
“Hopefully taking the step back will allow me to have a few more good years now and enjoy basketball while I’m still playing and not just use it as a job or an end to a means.
“I needed to get that joy back in life and basketball.”
Broekhoff is focused on the NBL and performing for the Phoenix, but he still aims to return to the NBA where he played 59 games for Dallas between 2018 and 2020.
“The NBA is still in the back of my mind,” he said.
“There have been some talks during the off-season, so it is still a realistic possibility, but I’m not looking too far ahead and I’m very happy with the Phoenix and I want to do everything to make the team successful.”
Broekhoff is also motivated to share his mental health story in a bid to help others suffering in silence.
“The best thing for me to see is to let people know that it is okay not to be okay and do what is best for yourself and get some help,” he said.
“If I can encourage someone else to put their hand up and find help that would mean a lot to me.”
NCA newswire
Sydney
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