I am as upset about Royse as everyone else. Still you can't deny that the guy rivaled Anthony Davis in college.
He wasn't even a could have, he was a bad and lazy basketball player even without the whole mental illness thing. Hell he wasn't even that impressive in the D-League
Isn't it sad enough being a Rocket fan at the present time, don't bump Royce White threads. We all wanted him to succeed in the beginning and now we all just want the thought of him to go away.
I think you mean Loren Woods could have been our hassan Whiteside Just like: Joshua Smith could have been our al Jefferson Jeremy Lin could have been our russell Westbrook Von Wafer could have been our jr Smith Stromile Swift could have been our kevin Garnett Eric Piatkowski could have been our kyle Korver etc etc
R. White was a bad pick because the Rockets underestimated and didn't understand his condition. Given how much time and resources teams are allowed to put towards scouting players they are drafting, that was a huge red flag. Having, said that. There a lot of things about Royce White's history and condition and such that are not all that consistent. Some of that misinformation by media, NBA, and him. Some of that is that mental health in the USA is so poorly understood. I just don't think the NBA is structured to deal with a player with his conditions. Even only playing him at home games is potentially a huge limiting factor for a NBA teams with limited cap space and roster spots. In another sport, say like EPL soccer or maybe even MLB, the ability of the teams to be flexible in numerous more ways would have made him more likely to succeed. If his main goal is to still play in the NBA, the best way to prove himself would be to prove that some process to manage his disease with a different smaller team can work. No one will give him a chance until he is able to do that. All in all, this just underscores how few people are able to play in the NBA because of all the external factors beyond just being able to hit 3 pointers, cross over someone, or dunk a ball. http://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/clippersnow/la-sp-cn-clippers-royce-white-career-revival-summer-league-20150707-story.html http://hoopshype.com/2016/03/01/royce-white-if-advocacy-makes-me-ineligible-to-play-in-the-nba-so-be-it/ http://www.flohoops.com/article/41712-royce-white-speaks-on-the-evolution-of-minnesota-basketball http://www.flohoops.com/article/41732-where-is-royce-white-in-his-nba-career
Yeah, you could just tell Royce was a dedicated, hard-working, team-first player who would be imminently coachable.
Royce was/is nothing but a straight up hustler (and not in the good way...). He played Morey and the Rox organization... flat out played 'em... I have no sympathy for the dude, since I do not believe his "illness" prevented him from doing anything - he simply used it as an excuse to do whatever the heck he wanted to do (or not do...). Excusers and enablers...well he did try to hook on to the right organization to play out that scenario... smh...