The psychological effects of a lockout can be devastating for NBA players. It can have serious repercussions on the psyche and self worth of a professional player, who stands to lose out on weeks, months or maybe even years of time in the prime of his playing career.
Although in basketball mental toughness is a key attribute that comes into play in various game scenarios, nothing quite prepares a basketball player for a sudden, enforced interruption to his career. All of a sudden, a player’s life and career is in a kind of limbo, which might only rival the uncertainty that he faced at the very beginning of his career, during high school, et al. The lifestyle that the career of a professional athlete brings in is extremely high maintenance, as a player’s innate basketball psychology dictates that the high wages in his contract are a gateway to making up for all the sacrifices he had to make while growing up to be a professional player. But this method of living can only continue when there is a constant income source like any average National Basketball Association contract.
What the lockout has primarily resulted in is that players have suddenly been cut off from their employers, going from hefty pay days and constant matches to a state of having no primary source of income, and no game time. If a player has not been careful in saving enough for rainy days like the lockout, he is bound to suffer immensely. In his case, the psychological effects of a lockout could range from depression to episodes of anger and frustration. All of a sudden, a player might even find it hard to pay bills and make ends meet, if he has no contingency plan. This is where the role of a mental coach comes in. Such a coach would help evaluate the situation of a basketball player, especially mentally, and applying sports psychology for basketball would help the player cope up with the demands of an effectively unemployed life.
A player may even need to move abroad to find new shores and new leagues so that he can find some playing time. This can bring in its own set of challenges – not every player can adapt to a whole new culture right out of the blue. There is a probability of facing and learning a new language, a different mindset, a different demographic, different state of conditions, etc. It certainly ends up going beyond the usual game time basketball mental toughness required, as it requires a player to overcome a plethora of personal prejudices and boundaries. What can’t be forgotten is that the player needs to focus on the mental game of basketball, while he is trying to fit into his new environment.
Only a mental game coach can know exactly how basketball psychology actually fits in all the pieces of the jigsaw for a player in a spot of bother. A judicious application of sports psychology for basketball can help a player overcome the challenge that is the NBA lockout.
