Al-Farouq Aminu Shifts Focus To Family Off The Court

The life of a professional athlete includes endless positive and negative analysis from media and fans. Blazers beat writer Casey Holdahl takes a look at how small forward Al-Farouq Aminu handles the constant scrutiny, as the sixth-year veteran attempts to leave basketball on the court and focus on his family off of it.

"I want to be able to separate the two and be home and they just see me as Al-Farouq and when I'm (in the gym), I'm Chief. Two different things. To be able to not bring all that stuff home and stuff like that, that's why I don't watch TV like that."

As a way to isolate themselves from the stream of information, Aminu and his family do not pay for cable. He elects, instead, to focus on his newborn daughter to take his mind off the game. His first attempted distraction, playing the drums, didn't last after Dallas Mavericks' head coach Rick Carlisle, who plays the piano, suggested Aminu learn an instrument to help ease his mind.

"I'm so disconnected from everything," said Aminu. "I don't even watch TV like that, so I don't really know what was supposed to happen or don't happen and stuff like that. I just know what I'm supposed to do."

"My kid helps with doing that. When I get home I try to make that just our sanctuary where it's not just all basketball, where it used to be if I lost a game, I was mad at everybody. And I don't want that to be the case."

Read the entirety of Holdhal's insightful article here.

Aminu and the Blazers return to action tonight in Houston against the Rockets. Tip off is set for 5:00 p.m. PST and the game will be shown on CSNNW.