Keyon Dooling Opens Up About Sexual Abuse, Says Celtics ‘Saved My Life’

During Keyon Dooling’s darkest hour, Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics helped him out in the best way possible: They listened.

The retired NBA guard published a powerful essay Tuesday in The Players’ Tribune detailing his struggles with mental health that stemmed from a scarring incident of sexual abuse from his childhood.

When Dooling was just 7 years old, an older boy forced Dooling to perform oral sex on him. Dooling tried to suppress the episode, but an incident at a restaurant in September 2012 triggered the dark memories of his past.

“All these images started flooding my mind, and I couldn’t tune them out,” Dooling wrote. “I had this horrible, crushing anxiety wash over me.”

It got so bad that Dooling checked into a Boston mental institution — where he got a visit from Rivers, his coach during his one season on the Celtics in 2011-12.

“He wasn’t looking at me like, Keyon’s lost his damn mind. … He was looking at me like, Keyon, what’s going on? What can I do to help, my friend?” Dooling wrote.

“I will remember that look for the rest of my life.”

Dooling also credited other members of the Celtics organization — including president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and guards Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley — for their openness and understanding as he battled his demons.

“Avery, Rajon, Danny, Doc, my wife … they all gave me the same look,” he wrote. “In their eyes, I didn’t see judgment or fear. I only saw kindness and confusion. They just wanted to help me, because they knew that something terrible must have happened to the man they knew.

“I will never forget that feeling of support. It saved my life. They kept saying, ‘It’s gonna be O.K. Let’s just get you some help.’ ”

According to Dooling, Rivers and Ainge actually set him up with a Harvard Medical School doctor, who helped Dooling understand his mental health issues and begin the healing process. Almost six years later, Dooling is using his own experience as proof that asking for help is not only OK, it’s necessary.

“The only way to finally escape is to stop running and turn around and face the ghost,” he wrote.