As professional athletes, many NBA players are known to play through pain and injury for the sake of winning, despite how detrimental it could be in the long term. While such behavior is often rewarded, little is said or done to acknowledge mental health issues.
Many players have come forward to speak about their battles with addiction and depression. On that note, Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington shed light on a relatively new topic, as he opened up about the experience of living with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).
While speaking about his OCD diagnosis and how it affected aspects of his career and personal life, Bub Carrington shared :
"I think it helps me be a better person. In my opinion, I think I'm naturally more organized. My aunt has it as well, so I can just see the difference in how we operate in life or how my mom or my sister would. I think we're just a little bit cleaner."
OCD is a mental health disorder that is typically characterized by unwanted or intrusive thoughts, which are labeled "obsessions," along with the need for specific actions or behaviors to deal with the anxiety from these thoughts, termed "compulsions."
For the most part, OCD is used interchangeably as a synonym for being a "neat freak" or excessively meticulous. However, it is worth noting that there is more to it than this.
In many ways, such a diagnosis can prove to be quite disruptive to a person's daily life. In Bub Carrington's case, however, the Wizards' guard has found a way to use it to his advantage, as he continued:
"I think when it comes to having things in a day, like having schedules like the NBA or you have a packed schedule, you have to be here, here, and here at this time, this time, and this time. I think my brain helps me with that. Like, those days aren't a lot to me. That's how a day should be."
"In my opinion, in basketball, I've got to work out. I can't walk out of the gym if I didn't make X amount of shots in X amount of ways, and stuff like that. I think it helps me… I think if I didn't have that, I maybe would be lazier, or I wouldn't be as intentional or as good as I wanted to be as a basketball player."
By channeling his compulsions toward specific activities during his workouts, Bub Carrington's OCD works in his favor, helping him improve and reach certain goals he laid out for himself.
For all intents and purposes, this appears to be a form of perfectionism. However, when it comes to aspects beyond his control, such as the performance of his teammates, there are certain challenges that need addressing.
"Yeah, man. It's not easy," Carrington claimed. "Let's say that. It really makes you put things into perspective. It really makes you realize that OCD is just a disorder. Yeah. But I'm here. I'm still a human being. I still have morals. I still have things that I can put above myself. And that's my religion, my family, and my purpose. And I believe, like, when you're dealing with what I was dealing with, which is being on a losing team and coming from winning situations, it's hard, but it makes you put things into perspective."
"Like, I'm here to play basketball. I'm here to be the best person I can be to take care of my family and take care of my friends… Sometimes I might not get all the dopamine I want out of a day or something, but like I said, the main reasons are my religion and my family. So, it helps me kind of ground myself at least."
In most cases, spiraling out of control after something didn't go exactly as planned would be commonplace. However, Bub Carrington seems to have found a way to curb this and maintain his bearings, a truly mature decision from a 21-year-old.
As Bub Carrington mentioned, joining a losing franchise like the Washington Wizards after being part of a winning program in college seems challenging. Despite averaging 10.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game last season, there wasn't much for the guard to be satisfied with.
While his time in the NBA has been largely underwhelming, after two seasons of languishing at the bottom of the East, Bub Carrington and the Wizards seem ready to climb the ladder .
With the duo of Anthony Davis and Trae Young leading the team , Washington has emerged as a dark horse in the East . Given that the roster also features promising young players like AJ Dybantsa , Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington should be able to get a little bit more dopamine out of each day.
