00:00So I had a panic attack in the middle of a game. It was right after halftime on November 5th of
00:062017. We're playing the Atlanta Hawks and we had so much expectation. We were expected to go to the
00:11NBA finals. We were expected to potentially win a championship and you know for me it was everything
00:17else in my life was not going wrong. Like all the pillars in my life had fallen and you know things
00:23just were not adding up and basketball was my safe haven. It was all that I had so I felt that was
00:28taken away from me.
00:52It got so much worse before it got better. There was people that were speaking about it.
00:56Teammates, coaches, people in the media. So I didn't want anybody to tell my story
01:01but me and I only exposed what I was comfortable with at that time but understanding that I've
01:06dealt with you know anxiety, acute anxiety and depression for a long time and it was something
01:15that I was really ready to face publicly but it took you know four or five months of you know
01:22therapy and look at myself in the mirror and understanding that I wasn't liking what I was
01:27seeing. I think to myself what would I tell the 15 year old version of Kevin, of Kevin Love and
01:37for me it's always been a big weight lifted off my shoulders or a breath of fresh air for my own
01:43self or you know when I look in the mirror I think okay I'm happy with the man I am today.
01:49I'm not perfect, I'm very flawed but I'm happy with the man I am today. Nothing haunts us like
01:53the things we don't say you know like speak your truth. There's so much strength in numbers of
01:58those who have who have either struggled or that are willing to help you so don't be afraid to
02:04speak because you will never understand. I certainly didn't understand the people that
02:09have struggled with with their own mental health even in my own circle or people that I can reach
02:14out and touch. It's been really something that's been very helpful for me. It was me taking it in
02:19my own hands to tell my story and therefore pay it forward to you know myself but also
02:26you know that one kid that whose life I could affect that I could potentially change forever.
02:31Yeah there's always been a stigma around mental health as an athlete. I think
02:34ourselves and people in general always look at athletes as superhuman and that you know
02:41certain things just don't affect them. What I found is success is not immune to depression
02:47or anxiety or mental health issues.
03:01That's why you know I'm here working with Aurora. You know we just have very common ideals. We want
03:07to continue to eradicate this stigma surrounding mental health. We want to continue to practice
03:13vulnerability for really any demographic and just bring mental health to the forefront of
03:17conversation. Now it's really come full circle where I've started the Kevin Love Fund
03:24and now we're working on modeling vulnerability in classrooms across the country so it's an
03:29incredibly special time to to be working in this space and it's probably the the time
03:34um our time in history where it's been most needed truly.
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