“You have the ability in yourself to find the positive in a negative situation you go through, I did it, that doesn’t mean you cannot do it,” Isaiah Austin, a professional basketball player diagnosed with a genetic disorder, told the Central News Agency in an interview on Tuesday.
“We are all humans, we are going to face difficulty each and every day in our lives. Just look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty,” he added.
Austin, 2.16m tall, is more than qualified to make such a comment. He was a college all-star at Baylor University and was thought to be a likely first-round pick in the 2014 NBA draft until he was diagnosed just days before the draft with Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the heart.
Although his playing career was over, at least temporarily, Austin still had his name called as a ceremonial pick midway through the first round at the NBA draft in June 2014 and was presented with an NBA cap by commissioner Adam Silver.
Austin is also blind in his right eye from an injury while dunking in middle school, but it was the Marfan syndrome diagnosis that kept him out of the game.
However, he was cleared to once again play basketball in November last year after his condition was found to have stabilized, and signed and played with a team in Serbia early this year.
The New Taipei City-based Yulon Luxgen Dinos, one of seven teams in Taiwan’s Super Basketball League, on Nov. 8 reached a deal with the 24-year-old for the league’s 15th season, which opened on Dec. 2.
Unfortunately, Austin hurt his right hip during last week’s regular-season game, which could sideline him for more than a month,.
Although surgery is not required, Austin said he is scheduled to leave the team next week to do rehab in the US.
The Dinos already found Austin’s replacement, but expressed hope that he could stay in Taiwan longer.
“The whole team loves him, and we feel sad for him. He is the best foreign import player I have seen,” Dinos head coach Wei Yung-tai said.
“He is easy to get along with, always practices very hard and fits in our system, and his story is an inspiration for all. We hope we can have him back as soon as he regains his health,” Wei added.
Austin said he really enjoys playing in Taiwan and loves the Dinos program.
“If the team wants to call me back, I will come back with open arms,” he said.
However, right now his main focus is to regain his health so that he can still have an impact on any court, he added.
Although he has only been in the nation for a month, Austin said he really likes Taiwan and shows his gratitude to his teammates, who helped him adapt to his new environment.
“I eat a lot of spicy hot pots in Taiwan,” he said, thanking his teammates for that.
However, he said he has no intention of trying Taiwan’s famous stinky tofu.
“I don’t like tofu, whether it is stinky or not,” Austin said.
He said he never knew he had the syndrome until five days before the 2014 NBA draft.
“Most doctors told me I should be passing out, or skipping a beat in my heart, but through my life I have never experienced these signs,” he said.
Facing such dramatic change only days before the biggest date in his life, Austin said he just had to deal with it.
“I already had been through so much in my life by that time. That’s a part of my life I have no control over, God placed it in my life, I have to push on with my life,” he said. “Basketball is just an aspect of my life, it is never who I was.”
Due to the syndrome, Austin stopped playing basketball for two years and had numerous checkups. However, he has not taken any medication, because doctors found that he has exhibited no symptoms that are normally seen in patients with the disease.
In the end, doctors determined that he was only affected mildly and cleared him to play again.
After being diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, Austin in 2014 founded the Isaiah Austin Foundation to provide support for awareness and research into the disease and those affected by it.
“What we try to do is to strive to spring awareness of the syndrome around the world, at the same time share my story and my testimony on how I have overcome obstacles to achieve success,” Austin said.
He regularly delivers motivational speeches in the US to encourage those who have the same illness to never give up on their dreams.
Many relatives of people who have the syndrome were upset with him when he was cleared to play, arguing that him playing again could give people with the disease false hope, Austin said.
“That’s not what I was trying to do at all. I am trying to tell the children to take the right precautions and measures and to have health checks,” he said. “In the end, it is about the person’s happiness, not the happiness of everybody around you. That’s the reason I tried to come back to court, I have to find my own happiness.”
Austin is now considered a candidate for the Philippine national team as a naturalized player to boost the team’s competitiveness.
However, he said he is open to all options and would definitely consider joining Taiwan’s national team should the opportunity arise.
Austin encouraged all who are going through anything tough in their life to know they have the power within to push through.
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