This Is How I Knew I Was Ready To Retire From Basketball

I Thought I Could Never Walk Away

The thought of not doing something that I’ve been doing my entire life was a scary thought.

I had played the game of basketball almost every single day for over 18 years of my life and it had obviously become a huge part of who I was.

I was a basketball player, point blank.

That’s what I was known as to others and that’s what I always called myself if someone asked me what I did.

Deep down, I knew that I wasn’t going to play forever. I think all athletes know this, but actually coming to grips with this and moving on is a different story.

Over and over, I had heard stories about athletes struggling to transition into life after sports, and I just knew that I didn’t want that to be me.

But when I started to think about life after sports, I didn’t know what to do or how to go about doing it.

There was a point in my life where I literally thought I couldn’t ever walk away from playing basketball.

I was wrong and here’s how I began to realize that I was ready to go on in my life.

How I Knew I Was Ready To Move On

1. My commitment to the game was not the same- Let’s be real. In order to be successful in anything, it takes a high level of discipline and commitment to the process. There are definitely going to be days when you don’t feel like grinding or putting the effort in, but when those days outweigh the days that excites you, then it might be time to move on. There were a lot of days in which I didn’t feel like working out and those days sometimes turned into a week of not feeling like I wanted to work out. If I was comfortable going a week without doing something pertaining to my growth and development as a pro athlete, then I needed to find something else that I was committed to.
2. My vision of I was changed- The minute that I saw myself as more than just an athlete, I knew I had a taken a huge step towards the next phase of my life. My second year playing overseas was when I really started to get into writing. It didn’t happen overnight, but as I became better at it, I started to change my vision of who I was. Ultimately, I wasn’t just an athlete anymore and it was a major thing for me to really accept and realize this. I changed my vision of I thought I was and could be, and in turn, it helped ease my mind when it came to transitioning out of being a professional athlete.
3. My other life goals became more important to me at that point- As I grew older, and crafted my vision of who I was, I started to set new goals for myself and my future. My goals and aspirations as an athlete were still there in some capacity, but the other things that I wanted to do in my life began to stick out more and more. I became more interested in my goals as an author and entrepreneur than I did with advancing in my athletic career. When I knew how important my other goals were, I knew I was ok being more than an athlete.

Be Sure You’re Ready

The greatest advice that I can give any athlete who is thinking about retiring is to be absolutely sure that you are done when you say you are.

In the past, we’ve seen athletes like Michael Jordan, Brett Farve, and Roger Clemons who attempt to retire and leave their sport behind them, but they can’t for one reason or another.

Their competitive nature usually drives them and they can’t disassociate themselves from the athlete that everyone knows them as.

Nonetheless, all of these athletes eventually went on to retire from their sport and now do other things. It’s always going to be hard regardless of how long you play, but there are ways to deal with it.

The one thing you don’t want to do is constantly be on the edge of playing and retiring because then you are not all in on doing either.

When you're not all in, then you're not fully committed and when you're not fully committed then you won't be as successful as you are capable of being. 

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If retirement is on your mind, take some time to analyze your vision, your commitment to your sport and your overall life goals to see if the time is right for you to leave the game behind.

Retirement is always difficult, but walking away from something is a lot easier when you are going towards something else.

Malcolm Lemmons is an athlete turned entrepreneur, author, and speaker. He focuses on helping athletes brand themselves to prepare for life after sports. To check out more from Malcolm, visit his website at www.malcolmlemmons.com or connect with him on Twitter & Instagram