Jalen Moore hopes to spread mental health awareness by sharing his story

Just over a year removed from signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, former Utah State forward Jalen Moore took to the stage to share his story of how mental illness kept him from fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing in the NBA.

Moore was joined by his father, Jimmy, and a panel of mental health experts from the area to discuss anxiety and the effects of mental illness in an open forum at the Logan High School Auditorium on Thursday night.

“I just want people to know that they can talk to somebody about how they’re feeling,” Moore said about the decision to share his story. “I want it to be more talked about and more well known, and to let people know that you can overcome it.”

In May of 2017, Moore graduated from Utah State after a stand-out four-year playing career for the Aggies. He spent the next few months working out for many different NBA teams and focusing primarily on basketball. Hopes of hearing his name called in the NBA Draft fell short, but shortly after the final pick was made, he signed a three-year, two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.

While playing college basketball, Moore often had to confront his life-long fear of flying to travel around the country for games. This started to spur a bit of anxiety, and especially when playing games on the road, his anxiety just got worse and worse.

After signing his contract, Moore spent the summer playing for the Bucks Summer League team and participating in various camps and workouts with the organization. He would regularly fly back and forth between Utah and Milwaukee, and with constant travel demands and the pressure of playing in the NBA, his anxiety became a life-consuming issue. After realizing that he couldn’t handle it on his own, Moore shared what was going on with his brother and his parents, and made what he called “the toughest call of my life” by setting aside his basketball dreams and quitting the team.

“Something wasn’t right with me, and I needed to fix it before I thought about doing anything else,” Moore said of the decision. “I needed to change my focus and get myself right.”

In the ensuing months, Moore worked on doing exactly that. He stayed at home in Logan, meeting with doctors weekly and taking a break from the tedious basketball and workout schedule he had been subjected to for so many years. A few months ago, he was contacted by the Players Tribune to share his experience with the world by writing an article detailing what he had been through.

“If I do have one piece of advice, it’s to find someone you know who cares about you and tell them if you’re having a hard time,” he wrote in the piece. “I noticed that talking about things can always help, and don’t be afraid to get help. Mental health is real, and can be helped, I don’t think our country talks about it enough. If you have mental health issues, you are not crazy, you are one of many, and every battle can be won!”

The article circulated the internet, gaining massive popularity almost immediately.

“Ever since my story went out there, I’ve had a bunch of people reaching out to me and telling me how it helped them,” Moore said. “That’s one of the things I was hoping for when I put my story out there.”

Moore said that the piece “blew up” a lot bigger than he thought it would, and that he hopes that it will inspire others who are struggling with mental illness to talk to loved ones and doctors for help overcoming it.

Following Moore’s remarks, his father Jimmy, a former Utah State and professional basketball player himself, and a panel of local psychiatrists and mental health experts talked more about mental health and how to support those with anxiety and other mental illnesses. The event concluded with a question and answer session between audience members and those who had spoken at the event.

“There are a lot of people who deal with anxiety,” Jimmy Moore said. “Help each other. Support each other.”

While Moore is still living in the valley and focusing on controlling his anxiety, he said that he is feeling much better and that he hasn’t given up on his dream of playing professional hoops.

“I’m working on getting my head right,” Moore said. “Playing basketball is what I want to do, and it’s definitely something I’m still thinking about down the road.”