Michael Sweetney attempted suicide in his rookie year with the Knicks

rady

rady

Administrator
Staff member
After struggling to find peace and refusing to ask for help out of fear of being judged, he attempted suicide.
?I remember the night,? Sweetney told HoopsHype. ?We were in Cleveland one night and I just took a bunch of pain pills, hoping it would take me out. But I woke up the next morning thinking, ?Well, it didn?t work.? That?s how bad it was.

?I didn?t like basketball and I just didn?t like life at the time. I went from being a star at Georgetown and having my father at every game, to losing him and not even playing in the NBA. I knew I wasn?t going to be given a chance as a rookie because my coach told me, ?Hey, I?m not going to play you.? I had a lot of things going on that were rough for me to handle. I had dug myself into a really deep depression and, at that point, I was really scared to tell anybody. At that time, you had a guy like Ron Artest and people would just say, ?He?s crazy.? In reality, he just had some issues that could be resolved. But people were quick to call him crazy and I was suffering from something similar, so I didn?t want to tell anyone. Even after I tried to commit suicide, nobody really knew. I was suffering really bad. I was in New York, battling this while the media was writing articles about me, and I felt like I had nowhere to go. I just kept digging myself into a deeper hole of depression.?
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http://hoopshype.com/2017/06/12/aft...ttempt-mike-sweetney-is-spreading-positivity/
 
H

htr10

GM
We drafted Sweetney with the 9th pick in 2003 in the draft where Lebron, Melo, Bosh, and Wade were 4 of the top 5 picks.

If I remember correctly, fans knew Sweetney would have no future in the NBA from the day he was picked. I remember attending a Mets or Yankees game in 2003 where they brought out Sweetney to throw out the 1st pitch and a lot of the fans booed.

Looking back, Don Chaney was the Knicks head coach when they picked Sweetney in 2003. Chaney got fired that season. It was yet another dark period for this franchise in recent memory.

Sad what Sweetney went through. Glad to hear that he survived it in retrospect.
 
T

tiger0330

Legend
One of the biggest draft busts since 2000 in this article.


10. MICHAEL SWEETNEY – No. 9 Pick (2003), selected by the New York Knicks
This was just one of the many picks that Knicks fans dreaded over the past 10 years. In their defense, after LeBron, Wade, ‘Melo and Bosh, this wasn’t a particularly deep draft. Sweetney ended up eating his way out of the league. Notable players selected after the husky big fella were David West, Boris Diaw, Carlos Delfino, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, Josh Howard and Mo Williams. The big fella was spotted as recently as 2011 when he was invited to the Boston Celtics training camp. Sweetney currently plays ball in Puerto Rico, where he probably weighs more than the 295 pounds that is listed on the roster.
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http://redirect.viglink.com/?format...-busts-in-the-nba-draft-lottery-since-2000/5/
 
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rady

rady

Administrator
Staff member
Indeed, we drafted Sweetney as the 9th overal pick but based on the numbers he put in college (especially in his last year) he looked promissing. Dude had an average of 28 points and almost 13 rebounds per 40 minutes but he wasn't close to the hype that was built around Maciej Lampe (first pick 2nd round). One of the worst drafts from Layden's legacy..
 
K

Kiyaman

Legend
I like the Sweetney pick because we couldn't get Mcdyess to put on a Knicks uniform.
Its a shame bout his pops, and the Knicks organization not caring.
I had liked the roster we started the 2003-4 season ..
Ward/Houston/Van Horn/Kurt/Mutombo ..
I liked the idea of bringing rookie PG Frank Williams, veteran SG Shandon Anderson, and PF Sweetney or Weatherspoon off the bench. The new addition to the starter lineup were (Horn and Mutombo) they were taking the Knicks to the playoff ..
The Hiring of Isiah Thomas two month into season, after Larry Bird Fired Isiah at the end of the offseason took our rebuilding plan backwards .. Isiah dismantle the roster within months after being hired as GM with a bunch of LOSERS .. the same-thing Phil Jackson did.
 
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