Active NBA player Kevin Love has been in the league for a long time, but in 2017 he had a panic attack in the midst of a game that altered his current mental state. In an article with the Players Tribune Love revealed that he had always struggled with anxiety and forms of mental health struggles, but encouraged himself to stay away from speaking about the topic as a way to preserve his image. He worried that people would view him as weak and unfit to play in the NBA so he followed the stigma that surrounded mental health at the time and decided not to speak about his issues. However after his panic attack he realized that silently struggling was the worst thing he could do, which is why he decided to publicly release a statement documenting his true mental state. Feeling less alone, Love was inspired to help people ignore the stigma that had previously haunted him and launched a fundraiser dedicated towards athletes' mental health awareness.

Simone Biles departure from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics drew headlines as one of the biggest sports stories of the year. Prior to her departure, Biles had a horrible panic attack which led to the development of a mental block called the twisties, a form of performance anxiety that disabled her from performing tasks that were once natural to her. With all the pressure in the world to win another gold medal for the USA, Biles decided to prioritize her wellbeing over her athletic career, marking one of the healthiest decisions made by an athlete ever. After finding inner peace, the goat came back in 2024 and once again reclaimed her throne, winning a gold Medal for the USA once again. Gaining a new perspective allowed Biles to not only heal, but inspire others to prioritize their personal wellbeing and ignore any outside pressure. She has now risen as a new mental health advocate who is more than happy to share her experiences to help guide people through similar issues.

Prescott’s journey in life has been documented as truly one of the most tragic stories in sports and his courage to open up about his hardships has highlighted his inner strength and desire to help himself and others. Losing his mother in 2013 than his brother to suicide in 2020 during the pandemic, took a serious toll on Dak’s mental Health. He felt lost and depressed not knowing how to continue moving forward. Thankfully Prescott quickly recognized that vulnerability was the first stage towards his healing journey as he decided to find therapy and confide amongst his loved ones. Prescott revealed that his willingness to be open about how he felt was the number one factor towards starting to find his inner peace. Unaffected by the stigma that deters many athletes across the world, Prescott shared his story with the world as a way to help inspire people to heal themselves even during the darkest of times. Furthermore Dak used his platform as star quarterback of the most famous team in America to promote his foundation “Faith Fight Finish”, an organization that aims to educate people on mental health issues and encourage people to find help and not let the worst times destroy their lives.

Serena Williams is considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time, as she has dominated the playing field as a women's tennis player for the past two decades. Despite all her athletic success, Serena Williams has constantly dealt with extreme anxiety throughout her playing career. The pressure to succeed in life has always pushed Serena to be the best version of herself, however this also came with panic attacks and anxiety from an early age. Working so hard to be at the top of your game is very stressful and it can heavily weigh down many athletes who are put on display from an early age from ever coming out to talk publicly about issues. Thankfully Serena doesn't fall in that category as she has publicly talked countless times about how she is not ok, but that’s ok.  Her giant social media platform has allowed her voice to transcend as a voice of reasoning towards young athletes who deal with the pressure from an early age as she attempts to assure kids that it is healthy and beneficial to seek help when all is not right.

One of, if not the best, athletes ever, Olympian Michael Phelp is no stranger to the mental difficulties that stem from depression.  In the London Olympics Phelps had a brilliant showing, winning 4 gold medals and 2 silver medals, however Phelps still felt unsatisfied after the Olympics concluded. Being such a perfectionist, he viewed himself as a failure for not having a perfect Olympic showing and fell into a deep state of depression; at one point he considered suicide. Despite having battled with anxiety and depression for a majority of his athletic career, this episode marked a dark point in the superstar's career. Although Phelps isolated himself for a short period of time, eventually he would build the courage to tell everyone that he was not okay and found help in counseling, ultimately finding mental clarity once again. In 2018 Phelps publicly shared that he was previously discouraged by the stigma that surrounded mental health, as he was expected to stay quiet and bottle up his feelings to always have a competitive edge. By speaking out, Phelps showed that even the best of the best can have issues and it is important to talk about them no matter who you are.

Lonnie Walker’s past childhood trauma took the form of depression and insecurity throughout the course of his playing days. From a very young age, Walker was exposed to horrible environments that were more than willing to take advantage of him emotionally and physically. Being so young, Walker was confused about how to approach his trauma which scared him away from telling anyone about what had happened to him. By bottling up his feelings, Walker developed a coping mechanism that took form in his hair. He felt that unlike everything else in his life, he could control his hair and how long it grew so he never cut it. Thankfully in 2020, for the first time Walker revealed to the public why he grew out his hair this way and how hard it had been for him to live with the mental trauma that came with being sexually abused as a child. Finally getting this trauma off his chest allowed Walker to build the courage to cut off his hair for the first time, a haircut that meant so much more than a haircut. Walker’s decision to reveal something that so many people have silently lived with for their whole lives should serve as a source of inspiration that it is never too late to find help in others.

In 2018 Derozan shocked the basketball world by simply tweeting “This depression get the best of me”. To his surprise, the next day the star guard woke up to an influx of texts and calls from people in his life who  were looking to support him in whatever way they could. Many people who knew Demar personally openly said that they were shocked that he was depressed, as he carried himself in such a happy and well organized manner. What’s so scary about mental health is that anyone you know, no matter how happy they seem, can be battling through the worst cases of depression as soon as they get home. Derozan’s decision to break the stigma of athletes not being able to talk about their feelings changed the NBA landscape. At the time not many NBA players had publicly or privately admitted to having depression, but Derozan's decision to reveal how he was truly feeling during the peak of his basketball career inspired other NBA players to follow in his footsteps. By unleashing his personal problems upon the world, Derozan taught people that it is okay for athletes to be human and inspired other nba players to seek help and prioritize their mental health over anything else.

In 2021 Brown posted a video on his social media account revealing that he has dealt with depression and anxiety, stating that it had him contemplating suicide at one point. Although he was able to find some inner peace by talking to various people in his life that he trusted, including his coaches and teammates, the star receiver mentioned having trouble finding the courage to talk to people during his struggles as an attempt to be strong. Looking back at it, Brown realized that this was not a sustainable way for him to live which is why he felt encouraged to post a video demonstrating to others what may happen to a person's mental state if they stick to themselves, "Us as men, our feelings aren't too much cared about. Get things off your chest. It's ok to talk to someone. Seek help. You have to take care of your brain just like you take care of your body." These words of wisdom serve as a source of inspiration to young men across the world to let themselves be helped, as if they continue to suffer in silence things only continue to get worse. Today Brown continues to publicly speak on the issues of mental health on the biggest stages and continuously works on himself through his powerful vulnerability.