Okay, so I got curious the other day. You know how sometimes a random thought just pops into your head? I was watching some old basketball highlights, and then, completely unrelated, I started thinking about different lifestyles and beliefs people have. It made me wonder, specifically about athletes, you know, guys who are in the spotlight.
So, my mind went straight to: Any ex-NBA players who are Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Seemed like a simple enough question. I figured I’d just punch it into a search engine and get a list. That’s usually how these things go, right?
My Search Begins
First thing I did was just type in “ex NBA players Jehovah’s Witness”. Pretty straightforward. What I got back was… well, a bit messy. Lots of forum discussions, random mentions here and there. Not exactly a clean list.
I saw a few names pop up repeatedly in these discussions, but it felt like hearsay. You know how forums are – someone says something, someone else repeats it, and suddenly it feels like a fact. I needed something more solid.
Digging a Little Deeper
Okay, so general search wasn’t cutting it. I tried changing my search terms. Maybe “NBA players retired religion”? Or adding specific names I saw mentioned to see if any official news articles or interviews came up. That helped a tiny bit.
I remember finding stuff about athletes in other sports. Like, I stumbled onto the story of an NFL player, Jason Worilds. Guy apparently walked away from a pretty big contract, millions of dollars, right in his prime, citing his faith as a Jehovah’s Witness. That was interesting, showed it definitely happens, people making big life choices based on their beliefs.
But finding confirmed NBA examples? Tougher. It’s not like teams list religious affiliation on the roster.
Hitting Some Walls
Here’s the thing I started realizing: personal faith is, well, personal. Unless a player comes out and talks about it openly in an interview or maybe writes a book, it’s hard to know for sure. It’s not like tracking stats or contracts.
- Lots of speculation online.
- Few direct confirmations from reliable sources.
- Privacy seems to be a big factor.
I spent a good chunk of time sifting through old articles, trying to piece things together. Sometimes you’d find a hint, like a mention of a player being involved in ministry after retiring, but even then, it wasn’t always explicitly stated they were a Jehovah’s Witness.
What I Found (Or Didn’t Find)
So, after all that digging, did I come up with a long, definitive list? Nope. Not really.
There are a couple of names strongly associated with being Jehovah’s Witnesses, guys like Danny Granger, who has spoken about his upbringing and faith influencing his life and decisions, including how he approached things after his playing career. Darren Collison is another name that often comes up; he actually retired somewhat abruptly citing his faith and desire to focus on it, though he later returned to the league for a bit.
But beyond a few fairly well-documented cases like these, it gets very murky, very fast. It seems many players, even if they are Witnesses, might just keep it private, which is totally their right.
It wasn’t the straightforward search I expected. It became more about understanding why the information wasn’t readily available, rather than just getting a list. It’s a reminder that athletes are people with private lives and deeply held beliefs that aren’t always part of their public persona. So, yeah, that was my little research journey on that topic.
