But in 2019, hurt in more ways than one after a trade from Philadelphia to Minnesota in 2018, Covington believed he was giving away too much — from energy to his family and his friends and attention to the negativity he says is the curse that comes with the money and the fame of professional basketball. “If you’re not in the right mental space, man … it can eat at you,” Covington said. “It can eat you.” It was eating away in early 2019 in Minneapolis when Covington responded by doing what had forged his career. But this time, it was himself that he took away. The player whose gifts allowed him to cover up a defense’s shortcomings had no idea how to address his own. He considered whether it was time to leave the NBA life he’d worked so hard to reach.