Former NBA center Willie Cauley-Stein has shared one of the most personal and alarming stories of his life, revealing how addiction nearly cost him everything during his professional basketball career.
Speaking on the Out The Mud podcast, Cauley-Stein opened up about his struggles with Percocet addiction, the devastating personal losses that fueled it, and the recovery process that ultimately helped save his life.
His comments came while discussing the tragic death of former Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, whose passing at age 29 is reportedly being investigated as a possible drug overdose.
“I don’t know. We see the Brandon Clarke situation, bro. And that’s sad, bro. If it really was what they said it was, that could have been me. I was doing 10 to 15 Percocets a day. And they ended up being laced with fentanyl.”
The former Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Philadelphia 76ers center explained how the addiction eventually stopped being about physical pain. Instead, it became an escape.
“You’re gambling with your life every time you break one down and think your partner has a plug that’s getting the real ones. He doesn’t. And then it ain’t real. And you’re on them, so now you need it. It wasn’t about pain anymore. It was about escaping reality, dog.”
“My partner just got murdered by my other partner. My little brother passed away from an overdose. My grandpa died. This was all in the same year. I went through like five deaths in my circle, and I didn’t process a single one of them because I was popping pills. I was just trying to go to sleep.”
Those comments align with what Cauley-Stein previously revealed in a 2024 interview about his addiction battle. He admitted he was unknowingly consuming fentanyl-laced pills for years and later realized how close he came to becoming another overdose statistic.
Eventually, he made the decision to seek help. For Cauley-Stein, rehab became the turning point.
“It’s amazing. It’s the first time I could not worry about anything besides myself and getting better. I didn’t have to worry about turning it on every night to play a game in front of 24,000 people who think you’re alright. I got to just go in there and be Willie Cauley-Stein, not Willie Trill the basketball player.”
“We were out there vulnerable by ourselves, with nobody judging us. We were all helping each other every day because it was the same battle. You build relationships with people. I don’t know. It made me better.”
His story serves as a powerful reminder that professional athletes often battle struggles that fans never see. While people remember Cauley-Stein for his athleticism, lottery-pick pedigree, and NBA career, he is now proving that his greatest victory happened away from the basketball court.
After years of addiction, grief, and near-tragedy, Cauley-Stein is still here to tell the story. For him, that might be the most important win of all.
