221 replies to this topic

[bboley24]

Has there been any progress here? Or is he just sitting at home?

[rocketrick]

Several Harlem Globetrotter players were sitting in my section Tuesday night (Toronto). Doesn't look like they were scouting Royce White though since he has sort of disappeared off into la-la land. It's incredible to think Royce White actually believes his mental illness would improve only if the Rockets would give him some playing time in games. Practice? Who needs practice if your name if Royce White? I'm sure the other Rockets players would understand if Royce White all of a sudden was promoted to starting PF in place of Patterson. Of course, there are a number of people on these boards that would be just fine with that, perhaps that is why Royce White believes the Rockets simply should hand him the starting PF job or give him 20-25 minutes in a key backup role sans practice time.

[Sir Thursday]

Several Harlem Globetrotter players were sitting in my section Tuesday night (Toronto). Doesn't look like they were scouting Royce White though since he has sort of disappeared off into la-la land. It's incredible to think Royce White actually believes his mental illness would improve only if the Rockets would give him some playing time in games. Practice? Who needs practice if your name if Royce White? I'm sure the other Rockets players would understand if Royce White all of a sudden was promoted to starting PF in place of Patterson. Of course, there are a number of people on these boards that would be just fine with that, perhaps that is why Royce White believes the Rockets simply should hand him the starting PF job or give him 20-25 minutes in a key backup role sans practice time.

I figure there's plenty of time for this to get resolved, and if both parties are smart they will do it behind closed doors and not let Royce spout off on Twitter like he's been doing. Certainly it doesn't look great to an outside observer, but I'm sure there's a lot of stuff we're not privy to and frankly we're probably better off not knowing (since the more people know, the more likely something is to go wrong, in my estimation). It may take a while, but I'm hopeful that eventually the two parties will be able to come to an understanding. It's just that we'll have to wait for it, which nobody is good at doing in this day and age.

ST

[bboley24]

190 views... So apparently I am not the only one wondering what he is up to. So is he just not attending anything Rockets related? Is this some sort of boycott until he gets what he wants? I am confused as to what he is doing and what he thinks he's doing. Does anyone have any inside information as I am in Pittsburgh and can't read Royce's mind from this far away.

[Stephen]

There are several issues that are going to be very difficult to resolve.

From the outside it sure looks like Royce has huge problems w/change.
That's problematic for several reasons. Esp since it doesn't look like Royce will be able to overcome his issues anytime soon-if ever.

To accommodate Royce the Rockets will have to have two sets of rules for the team-which always leads to locker-room problems that spill out onto the court. It's not just the travel thing. As a young boy Royce watched a teammate collapse while running wind sprints and it's freaked him out since.
I wouldn't be surprised if part of Royce's "protocols" included not having to run them,instead doing some other form of conditioning.(Which might explain the coaches murmurings about Royce's conditioning.)

Then there's the way Royce's preferred "protocols" for dealing w/his issues seem to change w/out any warning for the Rockets. There's going to come a point where they just won't want to spend the energy anymore trying to deal w/him. At that point he's gone.

As to the twitter onslaught,Woj in his article implied Royce's Agent told Royce to shut up and was ignored.(Keep in mind Woj's sources are mainly agents.)

[bboley24]

I didn't even think about that. What a mess. I think the greatest disappointment will come when he is let go and signs with another team and magically "works through his problems" and becomes a productive NBA player at the expense of the Rockets franchise. I think of all of the troubled people that have come and gone through the league and those that dealt with their issues to go to work and contribute.

Thousands and thousands of players have come and gone and yet he seems to be the one character that has an issue with dealing with his own problems. He has a complex that has been fed to him since he was a child. I am POSITIVE that this kid has issues that are difficult to deal with. But I don't think he's dealing with them.

Back to the topic at hand though...

Is he at home playing video games? Is he not working with trainers? Is he boycotting the team or league? Why not go down to Rio and only play home games??? He's getting paid... staying in shape and developing his talents. Not to mention getting used to the rigors of being a professional athelete and buying into a team sport. Not A1A Beachfront IOWA.

[rockets best fan]

totally agree with Sir Thursday. there is little chance white will make it to the court this year anyway(his missed time and the log jam in front of him). it's a blessing for the rockets that they don't have to depend on this guy right now. I say give this guy a year to get his sh_t together. if he still has not become productive cut him. you can not allow 1 bad apple to spoil the bunch. I know some want us to hold his hand(I am not one of them). either he learns to get a handle on his problem or cut him. it's just that simple to me. I remember when we drafted eddie griffen. like white a very good prospect, looking back now that kid must have had some deep issues also, but the wait and see route didn't work with him. no matter how we tried to work with him it just kept falling apart. I see white in this same light. he may not be a bad person , but just can not handle the nba.

[bboley24]

Where is Royce White?

Is he at home diddling himself? Is he at the Rocket's facilities? Is he in Iowa? What is he doing? What is the team doing?

I am in Pittsburgh and I don't know what im doing.

[Chichos]

https://twitter.com/Highway_30

its pretty boring. seems like he has a lot of time on his hands

[Sir Thursday]

I'm quite pleased they've finally got everything quiet so it can be resolved behind closed doors. I don't want to hear anything more about it until they've reached a concrete conclusion that they'll be able to carry through without the histronics from a few weeks back. Media's got to learn when to keep its nose out of things.

ST

[bboley24]

Thursday im not with you on that... at least when it was loud the team seemed like they're were doing something. But then again, I hope Royce realizes that nobody cares about him unless he starts to do his job.

Meanwhile.... as I care about him too much...

Is he just laying on his couch? Dribbling a basketball up and down his street? Playing WoW with his buddies?

[bboley24]

Wow. I just skimmed over some of his tweets for the last month or so... This has engulfed his life. It's all he does day in and day out. He's feeding off of twitter. Mental Health this and that for days on end. I don't see this getting better any time soon. I

found the best way to live with my bipolar disorder is to take my medications regularly and stay on a schedule. Work is really good for me because im good at what I do and it's very structured. This guy seems to be on his phone all day talking about his issues. This school shooting seemed to fuel his fire as well.

I would love to see him workout with Rio. Get him out there in their facilities. No travel. Just play home games. Have a regiment of a professional athlete. That's why I am so interested about what he's doing. The situation for he and the organization doesn't seem to be moving in any direction. Just screwing around trying to justify his absence.

[Chichos]

I think the Rockets have taken a wait and see approach. They have Royce for three years I believe.

What I want to know is how is he getting paid? Does insurance cover his contract if the Rocket's doctor claim his condition prevents him from playing for the Rockets? Do the Rockets have to pay him if their doctors determine he is medically fit to play but just doesn't want to?

If Royce doesn't play for the Rockets could he sell his story to hollywood and make a mint? If he does he should figure out how to get Denzel in there somehow. Maybe as old broken down Royce looking back on his playing days and wondering how it all fell apart/remembering how he got himself together and became a perennial all star (here is to hoping for the latter).

[Rahat Huq]

I hate being a homer, but a lesser organization would not have handled this situation as well as the Rockets have.

[rocketrick]

I would love to see him workout with Rio. Get him out there in their facilities. No travel. Just play home games. Have a regiment of a professional athlete. That's why I am so interested about what he's doing. The situation for he and the organization doesn't seem to be moving in any direction. Just screwing around trying to justify his absence.

Assuming Royce White finally makes it to Rio, there is no reason to allow him to play only home games as D-Leaguers do all their travel by bus. So that eliminates one of Royce's hugest issues, that being flying to the next game. The Rockets would also be able to monitor how well Royce does when traveling on the road, by bus, in between games. If he can't hack it in the D-League with no flying requirements, then that should settle once and for all whether or not Royce White is NBA worthy. Hopefully Les Alexander was able to acquire some sort of insurance based on Royce White's pre-existing condition similar to what Les had for injury concerns while T-Mac and Yao were under contract.

I am always excited when new talent comes to the Rockets. However, I have no stomach for mama drama and would expect this episode to not end well for Royce White if he doesn't step up and do what is contractually required of him.

[DaDakota]

I don't believe he has any major issue at all other than entitlement.

Some people have convinced him that he should always get his way to avoid any anxiety attacks, which he has not had since he was 18 years old.

IMO, what he needs is a good dose of tough love - either grow up, or get out.

Too many people kissing this kids butt, and growing up without a father has made it worse.

I applaud the Rockets for sticking to their guns, but this guy is never going to amount to anything unless he stops trying to get everyone to do it his way and learns that the world doesn't work that way.

Good riddance as far as I am concerned.

[DaDakota]

Now he won't report to the D-league again, and issues a statement that the Rockets are not following protocal, or doctors "Recommendations"...the problem is that he is calling "recommendations" as truths, when the reality is that what the doctors recommend is just another opinion - nothing more, and holds no weight.

I really really really want this guy gone - the Rockets have enough good young players, and this guy is not that good to begin with, especially with him basically pulling a George Castanza and faking being handicapped - when the reality is that he has OCD, and lots of people get along just fine with it.

He is trying to pull a fast one and get his way - like he has done his entire life, it is a learned behavior, the difference now is that these are professionals he is dealing with and they will not back down.

Morey will keep a good public persona, but will not crater to a kid and his demands, no matter how many times he sticks his thumb in his mouth and throws a tantrum.

Royce White will probably never wear a Rockets uniform and good riddance.

DD

[Stephen]

DD,100% agree.

Interesting that the Rockets are about to sign James Anderson(a SG,thank heavens!) and per Feigan still want to sign Beverly.
They've got to unload two players to sign both.
While it's probably some combo of Machado,Cook and Aldrich,I wonder if this was White's last chance and the Rockets will just pull the plug and waive Royce?

[DaDakota]

Please cut Royce - he is just not that good of an NBA player, and certainly NOT worth the headache.

DD

[Sir Thursday]

It certainly does sound like White is expecting too much when he says: "The purpose of a doctor's confirmation is to ensure that health decisions are made in the sole interest of health and not conflicted with business."

That is clearly not going to be the case here - fundamentally the Rockets are a business and no decision they make is going to be 'in the sole interest of health'. While of course they should not be making decisions that are explicitly detrimental to the health of their players, every choice they make is going to have some kind of business component to it.

The Rockets need to be firm with White, but they also need to make sure that they don't talk to him in a manner that will set him off. It does sound like someone within the Rockets organisation has not got that message - my impression of his latest statement was that it was a reaction to someone telling him: "Just because your doctor says so, doesn't mean we have to do it that way" in a manner he didn't agree with (eg. "The Rockets have told me in recent conversations that it is their right to decline even their own doctors' recommendations.") Now, while I don't think the Rockets should be rolling over and allowing whatever the doctors recommend without question, I also think there are probably less inflammatory ways of communicating that to White. In the end it is still their goal to get White to play for them, after all, and it doesn't cost them anything to phrase their dialogue in a non-threatening manner.

Anyhow, that's all speculation, and not particularly useful speculation at that because we don't know the full details, nor are we ever likely to.

ST