[Hang Up and Listen] Royce White Interview on Slate

Doesn't matter what I think, I'm not a physician. Neither are you and neither is the Rockets FO. Let the physicians make the medical decisions, which with anxiety, are fairly overreaching because of the need to avoid triggers. You seem to think if you tell him to tough it up and force him to hop on a plane and go to practice, he'll adapt and everything will be fine. In reality the guy will get triggered, have public attacks and scare the crap out of everyone within 20 feet.

Though honestly probably the quickest way for him to get what he wants would be for him to have a public attack, caught on video

 

he asked b4 he signed.

 

You want a better analogy, they should've never let him in the club in the first place if they weren't willing to help him avoid having public meltdowns

I'm waiting for the tipping point where he just says screw it, hops on a plane, gets triggered, and scares the crap out of everybody

 

This. White just pulled a Sam Bowie -- a guy who knew when he was drafted that his knee was severely damaged beyond what anyone else knew. If White cannot, for any reason, handle the mental aspects do the game, the he just can't. Period. The rules don't change because your ACL tear took away your speed; they don't change because your anxiety is too far out of control that it means you cannot play.

Go back to college. Then get a job you can actually perform.

 

Even better analogy: he convinces everyone he has his anxiety enough under control that he can enter the club. They believe him, offer him support, and let him in.

 

The Rockets also understand that they know very little about mental illness. That's why they have hired professionals who do, yet he refuses to see them. Listening and trust are both 2 way streets. It seems like he expects the Rockets to do all the trusting and listening. The fact that he stated "He (Hoiberg) understood he not only needed to listen to the doctors but to me and that I wasn't going to try and get over him using my condition," means that he understands that that is an issue.

After reading this, I feel like Hoiburg new that Royce was his ticket to success and just threw him the keys to let him do what ever he wanted. He did this despite knowing that he was being maniupulated.

 

This poster (Bill Bradley) actually purports to be a doctor one who specializes in these disorders in combat vets....

 

Royce's blind faith in "doctors" is a bit much.

He's been seeing a doctors these years and he still needs an extreme protocol just to play basketball.

Doctors screw up all the time too, especially when it comes to overmedicating people these days.

 

"My doctor recommended, who is my family practice doc, who first diagnosed my illness in HS and started giving me advice since, said"

So how in the hell does Royce White think his Family Practice Doc is the best person to be giving him advice when that's not his expertise? Royce White is an idiot. His family practice doctor needed to refer his care to someone in the Mental Health Field. If White had Cancer would this quack start chemo on him?

 

Well I'm not gonna argue with a physician so I'll bow out this thread

To me they're both, the org is just prepared to reconcile the two

 

That's a whole other debate on malpractice lawsuits and such, but I will agree a bit to that. No doctor completely does/thinks of what is best for the patient, they do what is best for themselves. Whose to say Royce doesn't have a mental breakdown while playing and then turn around and sue the Rocket's doctors and his own doctor for not warning him this would occur. If what Royce said was true, it seems like Royce's doctor pushing him to establish a protocol was less about Royce and more about putting himself in a place of power. Could Royce just be an immature puppet for his doctor? Sure.

I think this issue is a lot more complex than people know, but I also think Royce needs to shut up and play through it. Did Jackie Robinson immediately demand equality when he broke the color barrier? No. He was still treated like crap but he fought through it. Jackie didn't say "I'm not playing until a protocol for equal rights is put into place", he just played. That's what Royce needs to do. He needs to play, establish himself on the inside, then leverage his power for real change. As it stands right now he has little to no leverage.

 

Maybe so. Maybe the Rockets do have to just draw the line somewhere. Well... the Rockets definitely have to draw the line somewhere. I'm not sure exactly where. I feel like they should be able to come to some kind of agreement at the least where the Rockets can't overrule the doctors within some reasonable parameters. There's no reason for the doctors to be able to prescribe playing time or anything of that nature, but there's also no reason the Rockets can't give him the peace of mind that they won't fine him for not showing up when the doctors say he has an issue and shouldn't be there. If Royce is really asking for too much then obviously a deal just won't ever get done, but I think both sides are being a little too untrusting and paranoid that the other side is trying to get over on them. I don't think the Rockets would ever put White at risk by ignoring doctors orders, but I also don't think White would try to use his mental illness to force his way onto the court or into a free check while sitting out months at a time. Hopefully rational minds can eventually find a middle ground. In the meantime, the team has done a fantastic job of making sure this couldn't possibly be a distraction, and this allows the two sides to take some time coming to a compromise.

 

Which other Rockets player does Royce think has mental health issues? I bet it's Parsons.

 

Lin- anxiety playing with Harden or without the ball
Harden- strip club addiction (making it rain)
Asik- fear of being in a new country, i.e. "homesickness"
Greg Smith- autistic, good at math
Patterson- Snapple addiction
Delfino- Compulsive

A #protocol is needed for these guys #pronto.

 

The problem with that is that the D-league an essential function of White's job, which must be performed with or without a reasonable accommodation. Royce's contract makes him a basketball player first and foremost, whose development is at the sole discretion of the Rockets front office. If situation C above were ever the case, Royce is simply medically unfit to be a professional athlete.

You're basically saying it's okay for White to be a stage performer that can't get on stage or travel with the company. What reasonable accommodations are there to that? White certainly hasn't given any specifics. He wants a specific protocol for a very uncertain situation.

 

agree

 

Parsons: Obsesses over his own good looks; acts in a sexually predatory manner toward Jeremy Lin.