Everyone has that song or album to help pull them out of a rut. When you’re in a deep, dark depression, music has the power to inspire. At the very least, it’ll bring comfort when things feel extremely disorienting. This applies to NBA champions just as much as to your everyday person, too. Before Mikal Bridges won his first title with the New York Knicks, he was desperately clawing his way through the playoffs. Progressively, his mental health deteriorated.
In an Instagram Live, Bridges poured some more liquor while “Count Me Out” by Kendrick Lamar came on. He immediately started lip-syncing along with the background vocals before telling viewers how important the record was for him. After one of the most brutal playoff losses in NBA history, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers immediately became the soundtrack to his workouts, trying to get out of his depression.
“I was really depressed, bro,” Mikal Bridges admitted. “Lost to Dallas (in Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals) when I was in Phoenix, I was f***ing depressed, bro. [Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers] came out, I was just lifting—bis and tris, ches—and that s**t got me through it. I love this f***ing album, for real. I will never forget this album ever.”
NBA Champion Mikal Bridges Candidly Talks About How Kendrick Lamar Helped Him Out of a Deep Depression
As inspiring and revealing as “Count Me Out” is, there was a chance Mr. Morale may have never come out. In a 2022 interview with W Magazine, Lamar admitted that his desire for privacy made him seriously consider shelving the album. If his family hadn’t nourished him, “them s**ts would’ve never came out.”
“I’m a private person. It was tough for me,” Kendrick Lamar told the outlet. “The reason why I had to make that decision… I just didn’t want the influence. I could have cut corners and got flashy with it and worded my words a certain way. Nah, I had to be in the rawest, truest form I could possibly be in order for it to be freeing for me, in order for me to have a different outlook and the perspective on people I’m talking to. I had to reap whatever consequences came behind that, and also be compassionate and show empathy if they were hurt by it.”
In the end, Kendrick Lamar was just happy the album could inspire others to be open and honest, too. “That’s the beauty; that’s the best feeling I’ve been getting. It’s like when I be talking to some of my partners that never was able to express themself and communicate—they only knew how to communicate with violence… For them to be able to express that and have that communication is rewarding for me,” he added.
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