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Five-time All-Star John Wall has opened up on his personal battle with mental health in a published essay for the The Players' Tribune, as he got 'as close as you can get' to suicide after a serious injury that nearly required his foot to be amputated and the deaths of his mother and grandmother.
Wall has gone through a series of injuries and has played in just 113 games over the past five seasons, first with the Washington Wizards, then the Houston Rockets - for whom he sat out for throughout the entirety of last season - and now the LA Clippers over the summer.
His mother died of breast cancer late in 2019 and his grandmother died during the pandemic. As the country dealt with COVID-19, Wall was also battling in his inner self each day.
'One night, after all my homies had left and it was just me sitting there all alone with my thoughts running wild, I got about as close as you can get to making an unfortunate decision and leaving this earth,' Wall wrote in his essay.
'At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide,' the 32-year-old added in his personal essay, as he is set to enter his 12th NBA season.
John Wall, 32, revealed his long battle with his 'darkest thoughts' in an essay for The Players' Tribune, published on Thursday
Wall first spoke about how close he was to committing suicide in August at a Salvation Army fundraiser in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina
The 2014 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion elaborated on how things quickly went downhill for him ever since he had signed a four-year, over-$170million contract extension with the Wizards in 2017 and how it has helped shape into a better person.
'I tore my Achilles and lost the only sanctuary I've ever known - the game of basketball,' Wall said. 'I ended up with such a bad infection from the surgeries that I nearly had to have my foot amputated.
'A year later, I lost my best friend in the whole world, my mom, to breast cancer.'
Wall first opened up on his struggles in August at a Salvation Army event in Raleigh, North Carolina - where he was raised by his mother.
'Darkest place I've ever been in,' the veteran point guard told Donal Ware of Box to Row Radio nearly a month ago. 'At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide.'
'Money and fame don't mean s**t if you don't have peace in your life,' Wall wrote. Pictured in February with agent Rich Paul and LeBron James (right) in 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana
Wall was a hot commodity and a
