Haynes: Blazers G Earl Watson Opens Up About Brother's Death

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com has a nice feature piece on Portland Trail Blazers veteran guard Earl Watson, who opens up about the death of his younger brother. Watson was a 24-year-old NBA player when his 17-year-old brother was killed.

"My little brother was murdered when I was 24 and he was 17," Watson told CSNNW.com. "The murder is still unsolved. Someone ran him off the road. I believe it was probably a drunk driver. We found him in the middle of the street. It was like a surreal moment. A surreal situation."

...

"I used to be 100 percent basketball," Watson admitted. "Trying to pursue perfection as a basketball player. I really didn't give a lot of time to balance my life through spirituality, through community or even spending enough time with my family. I was so focused on basketball. I was overly focused. I was in a box. I had tunnel vision on what I wanted to do in this league in order to give Eric a better opportunity financially. In a way, losing my brother kind of grounded me. It made me more balanced. It taught me to never take any moments for granted and focus on capturing every moment as much as I can."

Here's a link to the full piece.

Watson, 34, was signed by the Blazers back in July. He was called into service this week after Mo Williams was ejected and later suspended.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter