A former NBA player recently revealed that he was diagnosed with autism at the age of 31.
Tony Snell, who played in the NBA from 2013-2022, and his family were featured in an episode of “TODAY” that aired on Friday. The feature shared that Snell’s youngest son was diagnosed with autism, which led Snell to go get himself tested at age 31. The test revealed that Snell too was autistic, which came as a big eye-opener for the former guard.
“I was always independent growing up. Always been alone. I just couldn’t connect with people in the personal side of things. I was like ‘you know what, if he’s diagnosed it, I think I am too,'” Snell said.
Snell said he was not surprised to get the diagnosis.
“I was not surprised because I always felt different. I was just relieved, ‘oh, this is why I am the way I am.’ It just made everything about my life make so much sense,” Snell said.
Snell and his wife got their son, Carter, tested after realizing he had been missing some developmental milestones around the age of 18 months. Their suspicions about something being off were confirmed by the diagnosis, which led Snell to start thinking.
Ultimately, though the diagnosis has helped put his entire life into context, Snell says he is happy he never was diagnosed at a young age. He feels he would have been limited based on the diagnosis and likely never made it to the NBA.
Snell played his college ball at New Mexico from 2010-2013. He played with six NBA teams during his career, including 3-season stints with the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks, and has most recently played for the Celtics’ G League team.
You can see the entire feature on Snell below:
https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1669699229365698561
