NBA players leave the league and leave basketball mostly for physical reasons — injuries or older people who can't continue playing and choose to retire.
But there are also some players who choose to give up their NBA careers for more peculiar reasons: Reus White had to give up his NBA career due to aircraft phobia; Larry Bird is said to have chosen to retire in order to save his scoring data; Jordan first retired to play baseball; Collison chose to retire for faith.
Fans will also think of a person who gave up his basketball career for a very poetic reason - to explore the true meaning of life!
That man is the basketball poet Larry Sanders.
Born in 1988, Larry Sanders entered the draft in 2010 and was selected by the Bucks with the 15th pick in the first round. He is physically gifted, with a height of 2.11 meters and an arm span of 2.29 meters. He showed excellent blocking ability in his rookie season and has continued to improve since then. By 2012-13, Sanders averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks per game and set a record for 40 consecutive games.
In the 2013 offseason, 25-year-old Sanders signed a four-year, $44 million contract with the Bucks. After signing a big contract, he may suddenly realize that he still has unfulfilled dreams as a child, and then Sanders' status on the pitch has plummeted. From an early age, Larry Sanders loved art, such as music, painting, writing poetry, and dreamed of becoming an artist one day.
In January 2015, he took the initiative to find the Bucks management, expressed the idea of not wanting to continue playing basketball, to pursue his childhood dream, and the blindside Bucks had to reach a buyout agreement with him. Larry Sanders also voluntarily gave up half of his salary in order to leave basketball as soon as possible. Eventually the Bucks used deferred payment terms, and he could receive $1.86 million a year until 2022.
This year, he was not yet 27 years old, after leaving the Bucks, Sanders also sent a long article explaining the reason for leaving basketball, which is roughly that he has experienced a variety of life, thinking that money is not the driving force for him to play, he needs to pursue his life goals and explore the true meaning of life!
Leaving Milwaukee, he moved to Los Angeles, where he composed music. He also released a single, "Black Mercedes," which translates as "Black Mercedes."
Is Sanders happy without basketball? No, it was a pleasure to leave that 2 years, but he didn't live the days he was looking forward to. He released a music album, painted the beauty of nature, and filled his head with life philosophy, poetry and song, but all of them could not reach the level of his dreams.
Perhaps with empty pockets or a deeper understanding of life, after 2 years, Sanders decided to come back. After submitting multiple resumes, Cleveland gave him a chance. He is also full of hope, conscientious and full of energy. But he was punched in the face by reality, averaging only 0.8 points, 0.8 boards, 0.2 blocks per game in 5 games, and finally he only returned for a month before being cut.
In May 2019, Sanders finally chose to join the BIG3 League founded by Iverson, where he began another journey.
The poet is still quite romantic, and in June 2019, in the middle of a BIG3 competition, Larry Sanders successfully proposed to his long-term girlfriend, and the poet chose to start his own family life.
Larry Sanders' story isn't over yet, and he's set to be different!
The best thing in the world is to make hobbies a job, but how many people in this world can do it?
Sanders' courage and determination to pursue his ideals are admirable, and he did something that many of us wanted to do countless times but did not dare to do.