Lawson more focused then ever after Rehab per James Harden [ESPN]

Ty drinks & drives, jail sentences can impact "on-court performance".

 

Dont forget your protective gear.

 

Err. See Vin Baker. Dude was a good talent. But had issues with Booze. Good stats and then turned 30 and became basically an end of the bench guy. Booze can age you quickly. One year you have all the athletic tools and then the next booze has stolen them and you are left with a prematurely old body.

 

If the idiot owners of the NBA treated mj the way they do alcohol, I'd not be worried. I am certain there are lots of NBA players who resort to alcohol because - well, that's all they can resort to despite it being worse for your health, far more addictive and far likelier to make you do something aggressive/violent.

 

He also said that was his opinion not insider info.

 

James and Khloe will get too turnt to drive so you have a shot.

 

Yes you can. You recover from the mind and body. I have RECOVERED from alcoholism and haven't had a desire to go back to drinking in many years. It is possible, we need to hang tight with Ty. Support the guy and give him a chance, he may have the only disease in the world that people blame him for having.

I have faith he can be a stud and be a positive locker room presence. The guy wants to win and is competitive. Have him thinking clear and watch out.

 

This has got to be one of the dumbest things I have ever read...

 

You can, but you have to commit to not drinking. James Harden, the courts of Colorado and whoever else is involved with all this can't do it for him.

 

Solid point. I hope emotionally things got rough enough for him to be willing to do something about his situation.

He is so talented. The selfish side of me wishes he does well for the success of the Rockets, but I hope he does well as a human being.

 

Like with any addiction, recovering from it and staying free of it once rehab is over is all about willpower. No court order, monitor, chaperone, rehab program, ect will amount to squat if the person himself or herself is not making every effort to quit.

The hardest part is the initial phase of simply getting your body used to fact that you are not putting in that poison inside you anymore. Your body will be in shock as it craves for it and you don't give in. Most people will become overly anxious as they stop taking in the depressant substance in alcohol and depending on how much you usually drink, other symptoms may range from involuntary shakes to seizures and elevated heartbeat as well as cold sweating.

After your body slowly becomes used to not consuming alcohol and having it in your system constantly, the mental craving starts. Even when nothing is wrong, you still WANT to drink. You MISS the loose happy carefree feeling, the lack of anxiety. This gets far, far worse when you are put in an emotional situation that you typically drink to suppress or avoid. This goes on for god knows how long.

Eventually, you replace your desire to drink with the desire to do other things, which is why it is SUPER IMPORTANT to find new hobbies and activities during the entire process. It makes it much easier when you find something else to distract itself. From that point on, it is just a game of resisting your urges, because any time you are stressed, or sad, or angry, or disappointed, or even when you see someone else taking a sip of any type of alcohol, a part of you deep down WILL want to drink.

Most people who fall off the wagon at this point in time is primarily due to think "One sip won't hurt" and when they sip, they think "One drink won't hurt" and then another and another until you are completely wasted and all your hard work goes down the drain. This is also why you get a chip or coin, to REMIND yourself of everything you did to get to that point and resist the urge.

Hope this helps people understand!

 

I think its a stretch calling the man a alcoholic....I think he enjoys drinking but not to the level people put him in. He did play last year and didn't look drunk on the court!!

 

When you can't stop getting DUI's, you have a problem with alcoholism...PERIOD.

 

No stretch. Denver clearly knew he had issues drinking. They said he regularly showed up at the practice facility smelling of excessive alcohol. They were done with him. See the draft.

Thus far he has been in control of his drinking enough to not let it ruin his game time performance however the DUIs may get him some missed time. Maybe everything combined is a real wake up call.

I have had very close relationships with many drunks. I found it strange because some could draw the line at certain places they knew were important, like I gotta work tomorrow so nothing tonight, I am going to see my family in the morning, I gotta drive so no thanks but they would let other responsibilities go in life. Some have NO control whatsoever they would drink no matter who or what was riding on them, very sad too see. The point is he has a problem to some degree. Whether or not it gets worse or better is up to him and him alone. Hopefully he will continue to reach out for help and rid himself of the "gotta get my drink on tonight mentality" and just focus on basketball and start doing good for other people.

 

I can agree with this part to some extent , you have to want it .... otherwise it aint gonna happen.

This part I kinda take exception to .... This quoted part kinda sums up what I use to believe as well .... I didn't have the shakes or have a physical or psychological need for alcohol. I wasn't an alcoholic by "my definition" and that definition seems to be shared by a very large number of people. "alcoholics drink every day , they exhibit outward signs , they can't function without it" and so on.

The "disease is progressive" with those "symptoms" generally found in those in later stages of the disease.

To me , the biggest and first step towards recovery is realizing / admitting you have a problem.
You can make absolutely no progress towards recovery prior to this very personal revelation.
How many times have you heard an individual say they don't have a problem .... and they continue to do the same things with the same or worse results.

.

Staying busy helps but I have to constantly remind myself of how my indulgence has caused me problems .... Even seeing someone take a drink on TV stresses me out on occasion. It's kinda funny how society treats drinking so casually ....

That one drink won't hurt mentality has wrecked many a person's recovery .... I know a woman from my Narcotics Anonymous group (I prefer it to AA because its all inclusive) that had been clean for 29 years and relapsed and is right back in the mess she was at her lowest point because of that one drink won't hurt mentality.

Any is too damn many ...

I mentioned earlier in the thread that there was an NBA player at the rehab I was in , his first day there was .... crazy.
Across the street from the rehab is a liquor store with a huge flashing sign 75 feet in the air screaming at you "come and get it". This individual walked out of the rehab facility while no one was paying attention , went to the liquor store and got a liter of Vodka , came back and killed the entire bottle before anyone noticed. We found him passed out face down on the ground .... He'd been thru rehab several times before.

I probably saw 200+ people come and go during my stay there and they ran the gamut in terms of the disease , some in the early stages , others deep in having been thru rehab several times , one individual on his 9th. Only a very few would have qualified as alcoholics in terms of my definition the day I walked in.

Kinda strange but when I first got there all I wanted to do was leave .... and as it got closer to time to get out , I was almost afraid to go.

 

FOCUS... FO CUS... FOC US. FOC US...

 

"Ty ... there were times when he was better than others. But the problems have been there for several years, going back to when we were having a lot of on-court success. I don't want to go back too far. There were just a lot of times where you were at practice and you just know. You could smell it. You know there is probably deeper issues than he would probably let on."

Exercising journalistic freedom?

 

Everyone reacts to withdrawal different. It also depends on how much you have been drinking, if you are a long term alcoholic, if you recognized the symptoms early enough, how healthy your body is, ect. Not everyone gets shakes, but a lot do. Sometimes, you even wake up in the middle of the night covered in code sweat and your hands and/or body is shaking uncontrollably. Other times, you simply feel overly anxious or irritable.

 

The bottom line is that alcoholism is an addiction. One can always recover from an addiction if one has the willpower and makes an honest to god effort. It is simply a matter of when as long as you honestly try. The hard part is getting to that point where you truly are dedicated to recover, otherwise all the help available to you amounts to ****. With substance addiction, you have physical addiction and mental addiction. Physical addiction is a lot rougher, but it always has a light at the end of the tunnel. Mental addiction on the other hand, is a complete b****. It is a psychological craving based on abuse that often has gone on for years. You can be completely sober and happy and still crave. That just gets so, so much more worse when you are in a situation where you would previously rely on it. Usually, looking at your chip helps as it reminds you what you have gone through to get to where you are.

 

:grin: