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It’s been more than five years since Kyler Singler decided to bring his professional basketball career to an end, and the former Duke standout has largely stayed out of the public eye since then. However, he’s attracted plenty of attention this week due to a string of videos that have led to a number of NBA players offering their assistance.
In 2007, Kyle Singler kicked off his freshman year at Duke and averaged 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game during a campaign where the forward quickly cemented himself as one of the team’s more valuable assets.
Singler ultimately spent four years with the Blue Devils before declaring for the 2011 NBA Draft in the wake of his senior season, and he was ultimately scooped up toward the start of the second round when the Pistons secured his talents with the 33rd overall pick.
That year’s NBA lockout threw a hitch into his transition to the next level, as Singler played in Europe during what would have been his rookie year before making his debut with Detroit in 2012.
That marked the start of a three-year stint with the Pistons that preceded the four-year run with the Thunder, but his NBA career came to an end after seven seasons when he was waived by Oklahoma City prior to the start of the 2018 campaign.
Singler attempted to keep his hoop dreams alive by heading back to Europe but opted to hang up his sneakers for good in October 2019.
Based on the void of information I was greeted with when attempting to find out what he turned his attention to at that point, Singler essentially fell off the map when he opted to retire.
However, he burst back onto it this week when he posted a fairly alarming video on Instagram where the 36-year-old delivered a conspiratorial rant in a stilted voice while saying “I fear for my life every day.”
The clip came to the attention of a number of NBA players who hopped into the comments to voice their support and offer to help out a guy who does not appear to be in the best mental state; Andre Drummond wrote “You aren’t alone brother! I’m here for you” while Isaiah Thomas said “Here for you bro! Always and forever!”
Kevin Love—who played on the same AAU team as Singler and also had some spirited battles against him while the two of them were attending different high schools in Oregon—also urged him to reach out in a message that read “I love you Kyle. Hit me whenever. Please” while posting a tweet urging others to rally around him.
Singler was slightly more coherent when he posted a similarly disjointed video after the first while implying his grievances are directed at people who interfered with his attempts to pursue a new career after moving on from basketball (a third was mostly comprised of largely nonsensical ramblings).
It’s pretty clear Singler could benefit from someone checking up on him, so here’s to hoping some of the guys who sent a message his way online are doing some work behind the scenes to make something come together.