Mental stress for athletes: From 'let's play' to 'stay home'

flu-like illness Michael Jordan fought through to lead Chicago Bulls to a crucial victory in 1997 NBA Finals created instant fodder for virtue of perseverance.

Pushing past boundaries, overcoming obstacles and adversity — that is part of ethos of major competitive sports. That is how elite athletes become wired to win.

It is also in direct conflict with medical wisdom currently steering society in a bid to stop spread of coronavirus. Think about Jordan's "Flu Game" through lens of pandemic and social distancing. It's jarring.

Seasons have been on pause for weeks with end in sight. So, too, has competitive drive of tens of thousands of world's best athletes, bottle corked by simple, sobering orders: Back off. Stay home.

“This flew in face of what y had been taught and socialized to do, which is, ‘Let’s play,'” said John Tauer, men's basketball coach and psychology professor at University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

safety of living room replaced comfort of arena.

“You really don’t kw what next day holds,” Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel said. ”Every morning you wake up, you don’t have to go to rink, you don’t have to perform. ... You’re just trying to stay busy and keep your mind in a good, healthy place.”

Eichel has spent some of his quarantine time reading “ Mindful Athlete,” a book by

More than two decades later, brain plays a much bigger role in way teams teach and guide ir performers. Maintaining mental fitness during pause could be as critical to success as remaining in peak physical condition simply because athletes are facing anxiety in unprecedented ways.

“This may t be a crisis for many of us yet, but it’s still a big eugh shift from our daily lives where it causes us to reflect and begin to say, ‘OK, when you pull something away from me that I identify with, how is this working for me? Is this going way I want it to?’” said Justin Anderson, team psychologist for Minnesota Timberwolves.

In an occupation built on physical performance, athletes have a short career window, and opportunities to excel are few. For all financial cushion many have, identity loss during shutdown has been severe. ir most elemental function as an employee has disappeared.

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“It’s a really strange environment, especially for athletes when y are used to being on field, used to being in gym, used to working out every day,” said Carlos Bocanegra, Atlanta United's technical director.

College and high school athletes were hit hard, ir careers framed by eligibility limits. Last month, when NCAA shut down all activity,

Tauer's team, ranked fourth in Division III, was supposed to play rival St. John's in national tournament until it was canceled. In his season-ending speech, he encourd his players to apply ir unique experience of being on a team toward new reality.

“Let's do what a great teammate does, and that means think about greater good as opposed to what my immediate wants might be right w,” Tauer said.

Timberwolves made player wellness one of ir top priorities when Gersson Rosas took over a year ago as president of basketball operations. He envisioned an invative, holistic approach to player development to support pursuit of a championship.

When pandemic prompted NBA to suspend season, Timberwolves were mired at bottom of Western Conference standings. Off court, however, y were prepared to help keep team as intact as possible while forced to sequester.

“Long before this happened, we valued certain things that in a crisis become even more apparent and important,” said Robby Sikka, team's vice president for basketball performance and techlogy. Sikka cited valuing players' health and nutrition, being player-centric and family oriented from beginning.

job created for Sikka — to integrate medical, techlogical and analytical kwledge and resources for improving wellness off court and performance on it — has been vital. week before league shut down, he warned players, “This will be your 9/11.”

Since n, he has helped coordinate player efforts to t only stay in shape with practice facility closed but make sure mental health needs are being met. He sees it as setting up lifelong coping skills. Anderson has paid particular attention to anxiety manment.

“It’s t something you eir have or you don’t have. It’s something you develop, much like ir shooting percent or any or skill that y’re working on,” Anderson said.

Just because y're some of greatest athletes in world doesn't mean y don't have flaws.

“At end of day, y have families, y have needs, y have challenges, that, if we choose to igre m, we’re choosing to igre m as individuals,” Rosas said. "That’s an area where we don’t want to fail.”