Remember peak Larry Sanders on the Milwaukee Bucks?

Larry Sanders’ NBA career didn’t last very long, but his 2012-13 season for the Milwaukee Bucks looked like the start of something special.

The Milwaukee Bucks headed into the 2012-13 season in a mediocre state of limbo and change.

A 31-win season the prior year resulted in their second consecutive playoff absence in a stretch that also marked a string of five no-shows in six years.

Franchise center Andrew Bogut was traded to the Golden State Warriors in March for Monta Ellis, who had put up 17.6 points across the 21 games he played with Milwaukee to close out the 2011-12 season.

Part of the reason for the Bogut trade stemmed from his inability to remain healthy, having played just 12 games on the year with numerous health battles since entering the league in 2005.

Another and perhaps more significant factor in the dealing of the former No. 1 overall pick, who produced at a high level when available, was the presence of an understudy Milwaukee felt could perhaps stand in his place.

Larry Sanders was selected by the Bucks with the 15th overall pick in the 2010 Draft following continuous improvement over three years at Virginia Commonwealth University.

At 6’11” with a 7’7” wingspan, Sanders possessed the unteachable traits that comprise some of the league’s most intimidating rim protectors along with an innate understanding of such a delicate craft.

During that 2011-12 season, his second in the league, Sanders posted 1.5 blocks in just 12.4 minutes per game. He also proved to be incredibly raw as a disciplined rim protector in that same breath, averaging 2.6 fouls per game, or 7.4 per-36 minutes.

The new season’s first five games proved to be a similarly mixed bag of those pros and cons, even as Milwaukee started 3-2.

Sanders put up 12.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in just 27.0 minutes a night. He’d also committed no fewer than four fouls in any single outing, fouling out twice while averaging 5.2 per game.

In trading Bogut and eventually giving him the starting nod, the Bucks weren’t oblivious to Sanders’ flaws but instead opted to make a calculated risk that banked on playing time as the ultimate determiner in his progress.

That risked proved to work out for both Milwaukee and Sanders, who averaged just 3.1 fouls per game the rest of the way.

With less time spent festering in nightly foul trouble, Sanders was free to produce career-highs across the board with 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, second only to prime Serge Ibaka.

It was by far the best seasons of his NBA career, peppered with eye-opening performances like the career-high 20 rebounds he coraled in a road win over the Boston Celtics or the points-rebounds-blocks triple-double he recorded off the bench against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Milwaukee’s defense was significantly better with its man in the middle and even Kobe Bryant couldn’t help but marvel at the range Sanders’ incredible frame allows him to cover near the rim.

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The Bucks won 38 games, seven more than the prior season, enough in the Eastern Conference to end a mini two-year playoff drought and set up a battle with the Miami Heat that promptly ended in four games.

For his efforts in finishing seventh in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year, Sanders was rewarded with a four-year, $44 million extension that offseason.

So, after also finishing third in Most Improved Player voting, what caused Sanders to play just 65 total games over the next four years before seemingly hanging it up for good in 2017?

Sanders inherited several traits from his father, Larry Sanders Sr. His size — Senior was 6’7″ — his penchant for blocking shots, but also a fiery temper that wasn’t always easy to keep at bay.

Over a 10-day stretch in his career-best season, Sanders accumulated $95,000 in fines thanks to six technical fouls and three ejections. On the whole, he racked up 14 techs — two off from a one-game suspension — with five ejections.

Milwaukee’s leash for Sanders’ antics was longer when he was making less than two million a year. But with a fresh extension and the expectations for a certain level of production, the Bucks could only put up with so much before the cons outweighed the pros.

That breaking point came in February of 2015 after Sanders had accrued multiple violations of the NBA’s drug policy over the years and a nightclub incident that resulted in a torn thumb ligament that cost him 25 games — and resulted in a fine for two municipal citations of disorderly conduct and assault and battery charges.

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On Feb. 21, after not playing in nearly two months with a seven-game absence from the team, the Bucks announced a buyout and subsequent waiving of Sanders, who’s been on their payroll for $1.8 million since 2017 and will remain until the summer of 2022.

Four days after the release, Sanders had a video posted to The Players’ Tribune where he told all who would listen he had checked into Rogers Memorial Hospital for a program on anxiety, mood disorders and depression.

No official retirement announcement was made, but the video made clear Sanders was making a conscious decision to sacrifice as many paychecks as it would take to focus on his mental health.

A brief comeback with the Cleveland Cavaliers towards the end of the 2016-17 season lasted almost a month — but only five appearances — before Sanders was cut right before the playoffs after missing a team bus to the airport.

Sanders was recently part of the BIG3’s 2019 season after being taken third overall in their draft, suiting up for the 3 Headed Monsters in seven of their eight games and racking up nine blocks, tied for second-most in the league.

Had Sanders remained in the NBA, perhaps he regains his footing and establishes himself as a potent defensive force. Or maybe he spirals further into a downfall he never recovers from.

Given his mental state, stepping away from the game seemed like the right choice. That doesn’t make the possible future Sanders had as a defensive force any less enticing to think about or his one quality season any less remarkable an example of that potential.