Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open, cites mental health

LMFAO, that's what i'm talkin bout. Rasheed a damn fool yo! dat boy crazy.

 

I don't get why the media asks an athlete why they struggle with this or that. Like any athlete can answer that question. And even if they could, it would be dumb to tell everyone in the world the reason you are struggling with something so your competitors know more about your weaknesses. There are so many dumb questions.

 

Osaka doesn't think they're dumb. To her, they are hurtful and powerful, apparently.

 

Hurtful and powerful people are often quite dumb - just look at our last president

 

Maybe, but many stars (I don't know if she is one or not) negotiate appearance fees and other accommodations to participate in an event. She may or may not have actually walked away from money.

 

I was talking about the questions, but she also gives the media a lot of power as well.

 

I'm going to guess that, given her anxiety for public speaking, that she did not arrange for any public appearances other than what was required of her just for playing.

 

Je ne sais pas

 

The thing about mental health issues is that you can be just fine one day and a mess on another day.

 

Then why did you mention that they were French?

 

I don't quite understand the argument that if you're a millionaire you should be above mental illness. Lemme pull a tinman on here. Wasn't DMX bipolar? Like didn't he pretend to be a FBI agent on a plane during a manic episode for instance? Not trying to shame the deceased or anything, but clearly wealth doesn't absolve anyone from their own personal issues. Do you think Michael Jackson was the beacon of good mental health? Again not shaming the deceased as I doubt the deceased even care, but you can be extremely successful publicly and garner a lot of wealth and do a lot of positive things for your community around you and still battle personal issues that impede your ability to always be available to the general public, much less witty and charming.

 

as sports fans,

would you rather not see great talent because illness prevented interviews?

 

Shhh. Don't tell tinman that.

 

Mental illness kept DMX and Michael Jackson from having even more success and caused them each to have strange problems in their lives. Maybe Osaka will also have issues that will continue to keep her from succeeding in tennis. As people have mentioned, physical issues keep athletes from realizing their potential or maintaining their peak all the time. As we couldn't help guys like Greg Oden or Andrew Luck, maybe we won't be able to help Osaka either.

 

She's the most popular person on the tour and makes tons more off the court than on. She made 50 million off the court and 5 million on the court. She will be alright from a money perspective.

 

Yes, but if you read her statement on it, she calls herself an introvert and says that public speaking has been a great source of anxiety for her for a long time. Doubtful she would sign up for any kind of speaking engagement if it wasn't required.

 

Agreed. Like most athletes, sponsor money is more than salary money. However hundreds of thousands or potentially millions of dollars being forsaken for mental health isn't a light step especially for someone who's career will be completely over in 15 years or less.

 

possible. But there are advances in treatment both physical and mental all the time. Honestly, I am glad that she is putting a focus on mental health and hope that she gets as much help as possible and is able to learn to cope.

 

How does she give them power? She's obligated contractually to sit there and take their dumb questions