"I could easily be dead" - Willie Cauley-Stein reflects on near-death experience after successful rehab stint for Percocet addiction

NBA vet Willie Cauley-Stein recently discussed his battle with addiction, revealing in an interview with The Athletic this week that he spent 65 days in rehab in 2022. The veteran big man believed he was overcoming an addiction to street-supplied Percocet pills.

As it turns out, however, Cauley-Stein was purchasing fake Percocets that were laced with Fentanyl. The hazardous drug killed an estimated 84,181 Americans in 2022, according to the CDC.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous uptick in Fentanyl-related deaths. Typically, many of these deaths are the result of laced drugs like cocaine.

Cauley-Stein knows he's lucky to be alive.

“I could easily be dead… I hear stories all the time about kids going to a party, never taking a drug before, deciding to pop a Percocet, and it ends up being fentanyl, and they die. From one pill… Dude, I was taking hundreds of them, for months and years. It could’ve so easily been me.”

"I know the bullet I really dodged" - Willie Cauley-Stein opens up about addiction battle

During the 2021-22 NBA season, Willie Cauley-Stein played with the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers. He played 18 games for Dallas before being waived. In February, he signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. However, after the completion of his deal, he was waived.

As he revealed to The Athletic, Cauley-Stein spent time in rehab before attempting an NBA return for the 2022-23 season. Despite that, Cauley-Stein eventually went overseas for the 2023-24 season, joining Lega Basket Serie A.

This summer, Cauley-Stein also participated in TBT, The Basketball Tournament, where he competed for La Familia. As he explained while speaking with The Athletic, playing in TBT was a much-needed experience.

"That joy you saw from me in the TBT is different because I know the bullet I really dodged. I asked for help before it was too late, and I got better, but the basketball thing has been a lot harder to get back. ...

I got showered with all this love that I needed, absolutely needed and played the best basketball I’ve played in years. That s— was dope.”

Willie Cauley-Stein isn't signed to an NBA roster. However, given his impressive FIBA Europe Cup run, where he set the single-game rebounding record with 20 boards, he could land on an NBA roster this season.