Former NBA player Willie Cauley-Stein appears in a better place now. The now 31-year-old was waived by the Dallas Mavericks on January 15, 2022, after taking a leave of absence in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks reportedly waived him to sign Marquese Chriss, who had a short-lived stint in Dallas from 2021 to 2022 before being traded to the Houston Rockets for Christian Wood.
Cauley-Stein is best known for his tenure with the Sacramento Kings from 2015 to 2019. The Kings selected the Kentucky men’s basketball alum with the sixth overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, as he showed potential as a starting center then. He recently revealed his struggles in Dallas as a Mavericks prospect. Read on for further information.
Willie Cauley-Stein’s Transition to NBA
Willie Cauley-Stein’s transition to the NBA appeared to be promising, as the Spearville, Kansas, native played basketball and football at Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kansas, and basketball at Kentucky before being selected sixth overall by the Sacramento Kings at the 2015 NBA Draft.
Cauley-Stein’s transition to the NBA was no easy feat, as the Kentucky alum began his career as a bench center to back up star center Nerlens Noel but eventually earned two SEC Freshman of the Week honors after averaging 7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals in 20 games. The KU alum suffered a leg injury as a sophomore but rebounded as SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a junior, along with selections to the All-SEC First Team, the All-SEC Defensive Team, and the USA Today First-Team All-American Team.
Cauley-Stein’s Downward Spiral
Willie Cauley-Stein’s downward spiral affected his NBA career, but the most important thing is that he recovered and avoided death amid all of his issues, including his dependence on pills to cope with his grandmother Norma Stein’s bone marrow cancer diagnosis. Stein died on December 1, 2021.
Shortly after Stein’s death, Cauley-Stein checked into rehab for substance abuse for 65 days. The former Dallas Mavericks prospect reportedly bought fake pills that he thought were Percocet but was laced with fentanyl and was “taking hundreds of them for months and years.”
Cauley-Stein lost his promising basketball career, but there’s always hope. Cauley-Stein’s reportedly hopeful for one more shot in the NBA, or at the very least, a generous contract to play overseas.
Struggles With Dallas Mavericks
Aside from the Sacramento Kings, Willie Cauley-Stein played for the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and Pallacanestro Varese. However, Cauley-Stein’s struggles occurred during his stint with the Mavericks from 2020 to 2022.
According to Sports Illustrated, Cauley-Stein told The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker, “The team could tell I had no energy, no love, no personality, no nothing. The drugs took everything from me. I think I’m playing hard, balling, doing my thing, and then I hear, ‘He doesn’t look like he loves basketball.'”
Cauley-Stein’s stint with the Mavericks was short-lived, but at least the former Mavs prospect got the help that he needed and reportedly developed a newfound love for golf, which also rubbed off on his daughter, who loves golf and swinging golf clubs.
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