New York Knicks: Michael Sweetney Opens Up About Depression
Michael Sweetney endured a controversial career with the New York Knicks. Sweetney is now bravely opening up about his bouts with depression.
When the New York Knicks parted ways with power forward Michael Sweetney in October of 2005, many fans buried him beneath a sea of bad memories. The former lottery pick spent just two seasons with the Knicks before he was included in the infamous trade for Eddy Curry.
Although fans may have been quick to move on, Sweetney suffered dearly from his disastrous tenure with the Knicks.
Sweetney, now 34 years of age, hasn’t played an NBA game since 2007. His weight played a prominent role in what pushed him out of the NBA and into an international basketball career that has taken him around the world, albeit further from his original dream.
Per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, Sweetney opened up about the difficulties of playing in the New York media market and his extensive bout with depression.
"“New York is the top media market and being under that microscope playing for the New York Knicks and being the ninth pick in the draft — a lottery pick — a lot is expected of you. If you don’t live up to it, the hatchet comes down on you pretty hard. On top of going through issues behind closed doors, there was really no good outlet. And it broke me.”"
Sweetney continued:
"“I didn’t really have no time to digest it,” Sweetney, now 34 years old, said. “And it just started to be a snowball effect and I just started being really depressed and started gaining weight and things just started going in a bad way. I think at that time, nobody really talked about it. You were looked at as crazy, kind of where now people are talking about depression and things like that. People say depression. Back then, you were crazy. So I was just one thing I was scared to talk about it.”"
Sweetney pulls no punches in the way he discusses both the events of his career and the relentless pressure that the New York media applies to players.
Sweetney was drafted at No. 9 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, which inevitably earned him high expectations. Prior to playing in New York, he was an All-American as a member of the Georgetown Hoyas—a school known for producing dominant big men.
Unfortunately, Sweetney only appeared in 119 games during his two seasons with the Knicks, and only spent two more seasons in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls.
The high hopes and expectations were dashed rather quickly, and the New York media mercilessly ridiculed Sweetney for his shortcomings.
Now out of the NBA, Sweetney is pushing to help change the way that depression is viewed and approached. That process has gained steam in recent years, but Sweetney is quick—and, in one writer’s opinion, fair—to point out how differently it was viewed a mere 14 years ago.
Rather than helping a player overcome their depression, athletes and other Americans alike were disregarded as crazy or troubled.
Sweetney’s recollection of his time in New York offers perspective on how insensitive we as sports fans and writers can be. Athletes are graded on the quality of their performance, but criticism can often range beyond execution on the court.
Perhaps more importantly, the care provided to them rarely ranges beyond merchandise sales and cheers when momentum swings in a positive direction.
In Sweetney’s case, we as Knicks fans and writers can learn from the mistakes that have been made. Executing at the highest possible level will remain the expectation and standard, but sensitivity to an individual’s emotional state should never be sacrificed for the sake of a sport.
The Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1973, but the price of winning has never been a genuine lack of empathy for another human being’s mental or physical health.
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Hats off to Michael Sweetney for stepping up and discussing his depression. If even one person is helped by him doing so, then he will have positively influenced the world.
As the old saying goes, New York Knicks fans: once a Knick, always a Knick.