Michael Beasley opens up about the depression he faced while playing for the Lakers

Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Michael Beasley recently opened up about some extremely difficult times he went through when he was a member of the organization.

He also revealed that he was hurt when folks laughed at him for forgetting his shorts during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was going through an extremely hard time off the court when the incident occurred.

“Off the court, my mom died when I was playing for the Lakers,” Beasley said to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “I fought through that, and I came back. My cousin died the game I forgot my shorts in Oklahoma. I was battling that day, trying to fight through it. I wanted to go to the funeral, but I was already gone when my mom died. I just wanted to be there for the team, and the whole world just laughed at me. My whole career, I’ve never been given a chance to show who I really am, how I can really play, show that I can really win and be somebody. The whole world laughed at me. It hurt my feelings. I’m not going to lie.”

Beasley is clearly expressing a lot of courage in opening up about sensitive topics like these.

The former No. 2 overall draft pick is looking to return to the NBA. Given how many surprising veterans have gotten opportunities this season on 10-day deals, the idea of Beasley getting another chance in the league seems possible.

During his time with the Lakers, Beasley didn’t get a lot of playing time. He made the most of the action he did get, however, and averaged 7.0 points per game on 49.0 percent shooting.

For his NBA career, Beasley holds averages of 12.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest. He’s a 46.5 percent shooter from the field and 34.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

Plenty of NBA organizations have gotten a taste of Beasley’s game over the years, as he’s played for seven different teams.

There are surely a lot of NBA fans that would love to see the 33-year-old in the league again, and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets that opportunity. He hasn’t played since in the NBA since the 2018-19 season.