Former NBA player Robert Covington recently sat down for an interview on the Wildly Inappropriate Podcast, where he opened up about his personal life and recent struggles at home.
He last played in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2023-24 season and retired with career averages of 10.8 points, 1.4 assists, and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 40.9% from the field and 36.2% from beyond the arc.
The 11-year veteran has a three-year-old daughter, and he spoke on the podcast about getting into a custody battle just to be in her life when she was just a one-year-old. He admitted that the custody battle was a major part of why he retired.
“It’s like a trial on your character. I’m fighting to be in my daughter’s life. The emotional toll that was on me in court. Bro, I cried in court. I’m sitting on the stand. The judge looked at me like crazy, and all I could do was this.”
“Like, you could see the sweat blowing on my face, coming down on my face. Like, my body started to get hot. We had to go into recess automatically right away. Yeah. Cuz I had to, and I literally ran out of that room cuz it’s like, how could you say this?” Covington recalled.
“So, the thing is, granted, I won everything… I won everything except for full custody. Which I didn’t want initially, like she needs her mother. So, and it was, it was nasty based on the separation. Which I understand, and, unfortunately, it played out the way it played out because now we’re actually cool.”
“Like, because I forgave you and I understood why you did it. I can’t hold that feeling in my heart. Because at the end of the day, we both have to be our best version to raise this little girl.”
“So, if I hold on to that, anytime I’m in your vicinity, anytime I see you, anytime I talk to you, I’m going to hate you because of what you put me through. And it’s like, I can’t hold that within my heart because this little girl is a part of both of us. And I can’t hate what helped create this.”
“Even with the things that transpire, I forgive you. I forgive you. And I have to forgive you because that’s the only way I’m going to be able to show up as the best version of myself for her. And on top of that, you’re gonna need me because you’re gonna have to rely on me at times for this for her.”
“So if I can’t look at you in this certain space and I feel a certain type of way about you, we’re not going to be able to be the best version of ourselves for this little girl. Yeah. So that’s where I’ve understood that I had to get to a place because a lot of times, like I literally was pissed.”
“But then as time went on, it’s like, but as time went on, I understood that I had to forgive her. Yeah. Like I had to. I have to forgive her because if I literally don’t, I’m going to ruin the rest of my life,” Covington said.
“It wasn’t a lawyer… No, this one wasn’t a lawyer thing. Like I’ve understood the lawyer things, and like I’ve been through this for three years, and I really, when I say I’ve been invested in this case for the full three years, every document that was submitted, every notice, every email. I’ve literally read everything.”
“Yeah, that’s the reason part; that’s the main reason why I’m not in the league. Oh, cuz they didn’t want you to deal with it. Cuz I invested so much time in that situation and my mental is f—ed up. Yeah, like beyond f—ed up because the very thing that I strive for that was literally making me go harder was the very thing that I got taken away from me.
“So from that standpoint, when the first custody case was over with, I felt great because I had my child for like, I basically won 50-50 custody. The very thing that we talked about in court was, well, what if he gets traded? What does that look like? Oh, that’s not going to be a thing.”
“This is in July of 23. I get traded in October of 23. So now the very thing that we were talking about that’s not going to happen ended up happening. And I had no clue,” he added.
“So now, so now the wrinkle is that the night I got traded, I got traded at midnight. Before that, my daughter was with me, and she did not leave my side.
“When I say didn’t leave my side, it was like on my leg. When she went to sleep, this was the tightest hug. Like anytime I moved, my daughter sat up here and was locked. So I had to lie down with her. I got the phone call while I’m in bed with my daughter.
“And the minute I got that phone call was the minute that she turned over the whole night and let me go from the time frame from like 8 to 12. She never left my side. And so it’s like she knew what was happening. She knew what was coming. I had to call my daughter’s mother, and I’m in tears cuz I’m like, “Please don’t use this against me.”
“I called her. Please don’t use this against me. Like, I broke down in tears like cuz I’m understanding what I just went through. And it’s like the very thing that y’all talked about is the very thing that happened. So now it’s going back and forth.”
“I’m having to fly to Cali. We go, we playing OKC. Me and two of my teammates, we fly to Cali to go just see our family cuz we all got traded to Philly… No, they ain’t going through custody battles. All their families are here.”
“So like now we talking about the emotional toll. You got LA, you got Philly. Yep. That’s a 6-hour, I mean 3,000 miles away. That’s a time difference too. Yeah. So I got to set a time to talk with my daughter. Yeah. 5:00 PM. That’s 8:00 East Coast time.”
“I’m pretty much playing at that time. Yeah. So now I’ve got to find this balance. It’s like, yo, how can you work with me now? She did work with me. She did work with me for a good while, and we talked about things. We actually didn’t communicate with lawyers for a good while.
“And then in July of 24 is when I started to notice a shift. Started to notice a shift. And then in October really started to notice a shift. Now my access is being taken away.”
“It was like using daycare. Okay. So, it’s like now she’s trying to structure certain things. It’s a strategic advantage. Like, I’m noticing what the So, now I ain’t talked to my lawyers in months. So, now that this thing is happening, it’s like, now let’s call them, and hey, this is what she’s doing.
“So, then I hadn’t seen my daughter for two weeks in October. I ain’t seen my daughter again until December 2nd. Mind you, my daughter has been back and forth the entire summer, entire time frame.
“So, at that point, we’re going, and I’m doing all of the traveling. Like, when I say for the last year, I’ve always traveled for the last year, I’ve been on a plane every weekend to pick up my daughter just to maintain 50-50 custody.
“Every Saturday. Every Saturday, I’m flying there to go pick her up. I’m getting a car service to go get her from her house, go back to the airport, catch a flight, and then come back, and have to do that every Saturday. This was after I was out of the league.
“While I was in the league, when I got traded, we flew from OKC to LA just to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We had a time period in uh, December. We had a 13-day home stretch. We had a 13-day home stretch. And I asked her, could she come out here?
“She said, ‘I don’t know if that’s a time frame where that’s too far.’ Basically, like, “No, like you can come, bro. I can’t. Like, we’re here for 13 days.” Yeah, my family can come get her. She can stay here with me.”
“And then on top of that, she wasn’t allowed cuz she was too scared, which is a long distance for her to travel. Yeah, it’s a long distance. So, we’re playing in Philly. We’re playing in Philly. Playing Charlotte. No, I forgot who we were playing, but then we were playing Charlotte the next day. We were off back-to-back. This is actually after my birthday; we play on the 17th of December in Charlotte.”
“I literally get a phone call, and she basically said, “Hey, I can you like I’m she can come because I’m I’m like being very stressed out about I can’t see my child. So when I go when I go and she tells me this, now I’m not even focused on the game. How am I going to make this possible? Because we’re only gonna be at home for six days.”
“But how am I, like you say, I got to come get her? So now my mind is wandering. Now granted, I didn’t really play like that. Before the game, I’m sitting up here trying to figure out how I’m going to get to my daughter… So I hit the GM and was like, “Hey, I got somebody to talk to you about. You know, I got to get my daughter.”
“Like, he was like, he’s known the situation like verbatim, and he’s like, man, listen, we got an off day tomorrow; just make sure you’re back. So sure enough, I got the clearance after that game. I flew from Charlotte at 11:00 p.m. East Coast time and flew all the way to LA. I landed here. I landed here at 2 a.m.”
“After a game, mind you, this is after a back-to-back, right? Mhm. I had to do a private jet. That’s the only way. 70K. Damn. 70 from Charlotte. Damn. I would have a quick turnaround. A quick turnaround because I have to factor in I have to be back in Philly.”
“And I also don’t want to be tired because we have a game. So I literally flew, landed here at 2:00 a.m., went and got a hotel for a couple hours, and then we’re back on a flight at 11 11 a.m. to go back to Philly. Now it’s a 3-hour time difference.”
“So, we’re flying out here at 11:00 a.m. It’s 2:00 p.m. East Coast time. We didn’t make it back home till almost 9 something that night. My daughter is exhausted cuz she’s in that.”
“She ain’t never been on this. She ain’t never did that. And it was such a quick turnaround. Now my body gets in. As I said, luckily I wasn’t playing during that time period. So I was able to recoup. But the adjustment for my daughter was the first few days was a hard adjustment.”
In essence, his custody battle with his former girlfriend pushed him towards retirement as he felt he needed to do everything he could to be with his daughter. Even if it meant spending $70,000 on hiring a private jet.
Ultimately, the custody battle and constant travel took a significant emotional and physical toll on the player. Despite his efforts to maintain a relationship with his daughter, the distance, scheduling challenges, and changing circumstances created immense strain, affecting both his personal life and, eventually, his basketball career.
