“Thankyou Lord for Closing the Door of Basketball”: Reminiscing His 20-Year-Old Self, 7x Mr. Olympia Is Glad He Made the Right Choice

Things happen for a reason. For this former Mr. Olympia champion, he kickstarted his athletic career as a basketball amateur only to be “lost as hoop.” Turning into a pro in basketball and finding his way to the NBA court remained a far-fetched dream. Lost in transitions and uncertainties, he eventually found his interest in bodybuilding. 20 years have passed since his first bodybuilding contest and seven-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath is still going strong with a possible comeback this year!

Two decades in pursuit of the most aesthetic and conditioned physique have passed in the blink of an eye for Heath. To commemorate the impeccable journey, a “teary-eyed” Heath shared a never-seen-before photograph of himself followed by a sentimental note on Instagram. 

When Phil Heath parted his way from basketball

While Heath wanted to become an NBA pro, his basketball skills didn’t support him. As the bodybuilding beast shared his nostalgic picture and memories with his fans, he recalled the unimpressive basketball career he had. He wrote, “After a very disappointing college basketball career, I was completely lost as hoop was my everything or so I thought.” 

Fortunately for the world of bodybuilding, we didn’t miss a champion. While finding an alternate career, the 23-year-old discovered his love for bodybuilding and decided to make it big in bodybuilding. He continued, “Although basketball didn’t pan out the way I had dreamed of, I did find a love of bodybuilding which enabled me to utilize my mind, body & spirit to create a physique which proved that with hard work, strong belief in oneself and an obsession of seeking answers, I could create a physique that I was proud of.” 

Right off the bat, a young Phil made a splash. He wrote, “20 years ago I entered into my very first bodybuilding show and boy was I nervous AF haha (…) Although I was a bit nervous, I did win both novice and open light-heavyweight titles and overall titles.”

Summing up his experiences as he transitioned to bodybuilding, Heath wrote, “Thankyou Lord for Closing the Door of Basketball and opening this one🙏” 

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Fate works in mysterious ways. Even though Heath was destined to be the torchbearer after Jay Cutler‘s Mr. Olympia run in 2011, Heath had already made sparks with Cutler and his monstrous cameo appearance the same night. 

Legends meeting legends

On the same night, Jay Cutler performed as a guest performer on stage. It was as if all forces were in favor to give Heath a perfect start to his bodybuilding career. He went on to dominate the bodybuilding world for seven long years (2011-2017). Looking back at the illustrious career he had, the proud man wrote, “Proud of this young 23yr old man who knew that his best effort, would always be good enough.”

Just like Heath said, life is a crazy ride. Heath advised his fans to enjoy this ride, that’s the best we could treat ourselves. He wrote, “Enjoy the ride everyone, even the most horrible days because it is those days which push you like weights into becoming a better more polished version of self.”

With Heath dropping exciting comeback speculations all around, it will be interesting to see if he joins the elite group of bodybuilders with eight Mr. Olympia titles. After all, in the words of Heath, “2023 is about to be f**king crazy.” Will he be able to seal the deal just like Haney and Coleman did? Send your thoughts in the comment section.

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