Portland Trail Blazers forward Evan Turner is happy with his current team, but he wasn't always like this and once thought about quitting the NBA.
It was during the 2013-2014 season which was the worst of his career, and where he thought he might be done. He wondered if he was cut out for the league, and if he actually had a place among his peers.
At Indiana, he played 29 games in an offense he didn't fit in. It was such a disappointing point in his career because before the trade, he was averaging 17.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and a steal per game for the Philadelphia 76ers.
During that letdown stretch, he posted a -3.2 when on the floor, and his point production dropped below his rookie season average at 7.1 points per game.
Turner told The Ringer he wanted to quit because he was more concerned with being happy than being bad at his job.
I think after my stint in Indiana, I had to [figure out] if I wanted to play in the NBA or not. It was all about getting back to being happy. I think that was the biggest thing. For lack of a better word, just saying, ‘ F***-it,’ and just being happy.
Turner rebounded in the 2014-2015 season after he landed in Boston and found another source of joy. Coach Brad Stevens plugged his versatility into the Celtics‘ game plan, and it worked perfectly.
Not only did Turner become one of the team's most reliable playmakers, but also a crunch time scorer and a fan favorite. Coach Stevens had given him a clear role to produce and he embraced it, leaving the previous year behind.
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