For the better part of 20 years, Will Perdue always had some place he had to be.

Be it practices, games, flights to the next city or conditioning sessions, basketball always consumed so much of Perdue's life. He didn't necessarily realize it at the time, but the sport provided some dependable and safe structure to his life.

So when his run in the NBA finally ended after 13 seasons, 11 playoff berths and four championships, Perdue was in somewhat of a state of shock. Yes, he had his communications degree from Vanderbilt University to fall back on. But being without basketball for the first time since he was a skinny teenager while growing up in Merritt Island presented a lost feeling.

"I've had moments of withdrawal or loneliness or whatever," Perdue admitted. "When you've done it so long, from high school to college to the NBA and everything in life has been so structured -- you're told where to be, when to be there, practice, game, travel -- when you get out of that, it's hard to adapt. I don't care how much you have prepared for it, it's hard. There's a void to fill as far as time on your hands, and there's also the question of what are you going to do next in your life."

Via Florida Today

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