Alston: Sister's Suicide Attempt Prompted Departure

Alston was suspended after failing to show up for Friday practice and Saturday's game. He then declined to respond to the Heat's attempts to contact him.

By JANIE CAMPBELL

Updated 8:24 PM EDT, Wed, Mar 10, 2010

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After losing a crucial game to Charlotte last night, Erik Spoeltra said the Heat have to defend their home court against the Clippers on Wednesday "like our lives depend on it."

"Like," of course, is the key word. Careers and paychecks may be dependent on how the Heat perform, but the playoffs aren't actually a life or death matter.

Suicide, on the other hand, is.

Rafer Alston told ESPN yesterday that the reason he went MIA over the weekend, resulting in an indefinite suspension from the team, is that his twin sister Racine attempted to kill herself last week in Texas. Though Alston didn't immediately leave town, he said that when he was pulled aside later in the week and informed he'd lost his starting job (and, he says, told he wouldn't be playing at all), his new priorities became clear. They just didn't involve an explanation.

"There was no argument or anything like that," Alston said. "I've never been a quitter and I still want to go back and tell them face to face. But after I had a little time to think about the fact that I wouldn't be playing any more, I felt the best thing was for me to be with my loved one. I just knew if I'd gotten on the phone and they said the wrong thing, voices would've been raised...it would get bad."

Why Alston assumed management, having just demoted him, would balk at his tending to such a severe family emergency is anyone's guess. It's certainly odd he didn't inform anyone on the staff of the tragedy when it happened, much less when he went missing and the team repeatedly tried to contact him. It's even weirder that Alston would speak to ESPN but not his own employers.

For Heat fans, those details aren't important enough to err on the side of criticism: Alston was only here through the end of the season, and the Heat are uneven with and without him. The aftermath of a suicide attempt is a swirl of confusion and concern and pain, and no doubt it turned Alston's life, as it would anyone's, completely upside down.

"It's been a tough and long year," he said. "I'll be 34 in July. If I can come back and play one more season, that would be great. But if not, I'm still happy with my decision. I played 11 years and had a solid career. Maybe I didn't leave Miami the right way. But I left for the right reason."

Janie Campbell is a Florida native who believes in the pro-set and ballpark hot dogs. Her work has appeared in irreverent sports sites around the internet.