Shabazz & Tourette Syndrome
I used to date a girl with the same type of Tourette's as Bazz, and she managed to keep her tics more or less under control, in the years I've known her she has only had noticeable episodes twice.
I have a lot of respect for Muhammad for just white-knuckling his disorder and overcoming it, it's a rare person who can do that, especially when they are under the pressure of being a potential top-5 pick and the hope for UCLA basketball this season.
It's this mental fortitude which is his biggest asset in my opinion, if you spend every day controlling your body through force of will, staying focused in big-game situations would be a walk in the park, and his ability to elevate his game down the stretch of games is proof of that.
Big ups to Bazz, I hope he finds his way in the NBA.
Shabazz Muhammad began to exhibit signs of Tourette syndrome at the age of six.
“He would start shaking in the middle of a game,” said Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes. “His guy would go right around him. I thought he would never be able to play basketball. How could he when he couldn’t stand still and stop convulsing in the middle of a play?”
Half of children affected with Tourette syndrome no longer feel the effects of it after the age of 18, but Muhammad still deals with the issue on occasion.
For the most part, his tics subsided around his junior year at Bishop Gorman and have been “pretty stable for the last three or four years,” according to Holmes.
http://dailybruin.com/2013/03/01/not-looking-back-shabazz-muhammad-overc...