How Duane Notice found a deeper sense of self battling back from injury

Duane Notice already had 20 points in the training camp scrimmage when he made a move at the top of the key and heard a snap. “I felt a kick in the back of my leg, and I knew that no one was behind me,” he remembers.

He had just re-signed with the Hamilton Honey Badgers after a small hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and was preparing with the team for the 2020 Canadian Elite Basketball League Season. But with that one move, the 25-year-old’s life changed in an instant.

"I looked at my bench, and my head coach at the time, Ryan Schmidt, had his hands over his head, and he looked super emotional. It was kind of weird to see. I knew then something was wrong. I couldn't feel anything, but I was crying on my way to the hospital," says Notice, now 28.

He would soon find out he’d ruptured a calf muscle and his Achilles tendon. Hospitalized in the early days of his recovery, which coincided with the height of the pandemic, his only access to his support system came through his cell phone. No one was allowed to visit him. It was a difficult time, mentally and emotionally. What kept Notice sane was remembering the 72-Hour Rule taught to him by his mother.

"We could be in a rut; we could be down; we could feel all the feelings and embrace the positive and negative, but after those 72 hours, we have to figure out how to get out of this rut," explains Notice. "Take a deep breath, step outside the situation and then come back. Sometimes you have to realize you're bigger than your circumstances."

It’s common in narratives about athletes’ mental health for a player to only really start taking these issues seriously after being forced to by an injury or other significant setback. Fortunately for Notice, who signed with the Sudbury Five for the 2023 CEBL season, his parents recognized the importance of mental health early on and gave their kids the tools to express themselves. They also practiced an open-door policy.

“Our parents told us they were there for us and supported us. They even recommended we see sports psychiatrists to help us with things they may not be able to relate to. My parents weren’t top-level athletes, so they couldn’t imagine what we were going through. They just wanted the best for us, and that was for us to get help,” says Marcus Carr, Notice’s brother.

Carr is also an elite basketball player, currently suiting up for the Texas Longhorns. He and Notice are close, each referring to the other as his “brother’s keeper.” Carr also suffered a major injury while attending Montverde Academy, a Florida prep school, giving him added insight when Notice was sidelined in 2020.

“He’s my only brother, and we’ve gone through a lot together. Good or bad, we’ve always been able to be there for each other and hold each other down. We always have that love for each other,” says Carr.

The brothers’ support for each other and openness about their mental health stems from their family dynamic growing up, and it’s a rare one given they come from a Jamaican family. Many Caribbean and Black families see mental illness as taboo because of misconceptions and stigma. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, trauma inflicted on Black communities through oppression, colonialism and other forms of racism has resulted in, among other things, a lack of mental health literacy and awareness, which has historically deterred Black people from voluntarily engaging with mental health services.

Notice and Carr both use visual meditation to stay calm and prepare themselves before games. The goal of the practice is to help them stay mentally fit and bring positivity into existence.

“My brother and I do positive affirmations, and it has helped change the way we talk,” says Notice. “As people and as a community, we sometimes speak negatively. So instead of saying, ‘I can,’ I say, ‘I will.’ Just those little things on how we speak to each other can make a difference.”

The shooting guard maintained that positivity through his recovery, which helped him get back onto the court. But it would be truly put to the test nine months after his first surgery, when a second setback would have him questioning his own identity.

Freshly cleared to return, Notice was again scrimmaging at five-on-five. One of his teammates was defending him, and when Notice matched his intensity, he felt pain in his left leg, the same one he’d injured. It would turn out he had torn his Achilles again. This time he felt deflated and didn’t know where his career would go.

"After I got hurt the second time, I felt everybody was like, ‘He’s hurt again; this is it for him.’ People who wanted to collaborate didn't want to anymore. I felt they didn't see my value, which was a tough pill to swallow. But it was a good shocker because it provided a realistic wake-up call, which I needed. You can't ride on the fact you're just a basketball player," says Notice.

During his recovery, Notice picked up odd jobs while working as a play-by-play analyst for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G-League affiliate. He worked as a hall monitor at Heart Lake Secondary School with his dad and in the VIP section at BMO Field during the Toronto FC season. “It was weird seeing people I know,” he says. “It wasn’t embarrassing. There was nothing embarrassing about it, but it was like, ‘Wow, this is what my life is like right now.’ It made me look at where I was in my life and why I want to get back onto the court.”

While recovering and working, Notice realized there was more to his identity than being a basketball player. His mother had always encouraged him to “use basketball.” She’d warned him: “Don’t let basketball use you.” The new perspective on her advice allowed Notice to shift the way he saw himself as well, and to look for new opportunities connected to basketball — ones that extended beyond the court.

“I’m a living testament,” he says. “If it wasn’t for me playing basketball, I wouldn’t be able to be a broadcaster for the radio, a play-by-play analyst for the Raptors 905. We don’t realize basketball is a passport — and it has allowed me to shake hands with many people. Once you realize this, you can use it to your advantage, which can take you further in life.”