Bucks Larry Sanders On NBA Life: ‘You Have To Be Politically Correct’

Larry Sanders walked away from one of the highest profile, most lucrative positions on the planet as the starting center for the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, Sanders explains why.

In an exclusive video on the Derek Jeter-owned website The Players Tribune, Larry explains his decision to accept a buyout from the Milwaukee Bucks following a suspension by the NBA for substance abuse.

“I know I disappeared for awhile. People wondering where I was. I actually entered into Rogers Memorial Hospital and it was a program for anxiety and depression, mood disorders,” he said. “It taught me a lot about myself, it taught me about what’s important and where I would want to devote my time and energy.”

Larry continued, giving a credible side as to why he would be willing to walk away from millions of dollars.

“[Basketball] seems to be a desirable lucrative high paying job so people say ‘How can you be unhappy there?’ [I] value the relationship with people around me, the people I love. Happiness is not behind a golden gate.”

Larry also went into detail behind his suspension by the NBA for marijuana use.

“[Marijuana] for me was used medically to treat some of the symptoms I was having,’ he said.

Finally, Sanders also detailed the hidden pitfalls that most outsiders may not realize about playing in the NBA.

“You have to be politically correct in your statements. You have to give up your freedom of speech,” Larry said. “There’s no one really trying to guide, teach you what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. So you get lost, you get your money stolen. You come from not having anything.”

In the end, Sanders is not ruling out a return to basketball.

“I love basketball, I’ll always be playing basketball, but for it to consume so much of my life and time right now…it’s not there for me,” he said. “If I get to a point where I feel I’m capable of playing basketball again [professionally], I will.”

According to ESPN, “Sanders appeared in 27 games for Milwaukee this season, averaging 7.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 21.7 minutes of action per game.”

The Milwaukee Bucks, meanwhile, continue to push towards the playoffs without him. Currently the number six seed, the team recently upgraded their point guard position in a three-team trade with the Philadelphia 76ers that brought rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams to the squad, as reported by the Inquistr.

If they manage to make any headway in the playoffs, they’ll have a fan in Larry Sanders, who wishes he could have said goodbye formally to the Bucks.

“It was never about the fans or how they treated me. They were awesome.”

[Photo credit: Jason Miller / Getty Images ]