Greg Stiemsma speaks at Waunakee Project Brave event
WAUNAKEE, Wis. (WKOW) — Waunakee Project Brave held its fifth annual ‘Broken to Brave’ event at the North Ridge church.
The event lasted two hours. It was headlined by former Wisconsin and NBA player Greg Stiemsma opening up about his struggles with depression while in college. Several others shared their stories, and some performed songs.
Stiemsma said he wanted to share his story because of how passionate he’s become about mental health in the 20 years since his battle.
“The experience of going through my story, going through my journey, the support I had along the way; I’ve had countless people reach out over the years, just kind of how impactful my story has been to help them through something,” Stiemsma said about why he came to speak.
Stiemsma said he felt alone in his battle, until the Wisconsin team trainer knocked on his door at 3 a.m. one night. Stiemsma opened up, and the two had a conversation about improving his life. From there, he began to get the help he needed. Now, he wants nobody to feel that hopeless.
“My biggest message would be that you’re not alone,” Stiemsma said. “And there’s there’s resources, there people care about you. You know, no matter how dark the clouds are like, there’s always kind of a silver lining, and sometimes you need a little help finding it, but it’s always there.”
After a four-year NBA career that included stints with the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, and Toronto Raptors, Stiemsma is now married with kids and is Wisconsin’s director of player development. Now that he’s come out on the other side of his battle long ago, he wants to keep using his platform to help others.
“Whenever I get opportunities to do things like these, I’m happy to take advantage,” Stiemsma said.