If and when he quits, it will be sad because in the end he proved nothing to those in the mental illness community that were looking up to him to sort of stand for something, or to be a beacon of hope for those who are struggling. And to those outside of his world.... just read the tweets people are sending him. Ultimately, those who don't understand what is really going on his head are going to continue to not understand. More than likely he's going to end up as another victim of professional sports and mental illness. Just another Leon Smith. I honestly hope after this that this is the last we hear from him. Not because I dont want to hear anything positive, but I dont want to hear about how he took to drugs, alchohol, or got arrested. You hear these sad stories all the time, and its a damn shame. If we hear nothing, thats probably a good thing. Like Clutch said earlier, I second it. There is still a day or two for him to snap out of it, and knowing people close to me that have similar characteristics, it could very well happen. He is delusional by the way. Its still possible that he wakes up overnight like he has some sort of multiple personality disorder. Stay tuned.
Thing is you can't improve as a player when not stepping on the court, practice, doing drills, going through video sessions and more
Also, the Rockets especially wont, but NO NBA TEAM will EVER draft anyone with similar mental conditions ever again. I wouldn't be shocked if the NBA started investing in predraft psych evaluations now to prevent future occurrences. They will label it as something along the lines of "preventative mental care." Royce just closed the door for many, many future athletic talents.
If he quits like this, it's not anxiety disorder that got to him, it's because he's not mentally strong enough for the rigours of the NBA, including travel (whether by bus or air), practice, paying his dues, battling for minutes, going to the DLeague, adhering to team concepts, taking orders from the coach, and most importantly going through adversity etc. Perhaps 10-15% of the people make it in the NBA on sheer talent + a good dose of work (like TMac), but most make it going through adversity. For people in a similar boat, he can look at DMo and Terrence Jones. For a blueprint for perseverance, he can look at Marcus Morris. For inspiration ... just look at that undrafted Asian guy from Harvard that got cut twice (and almost a third time) and eventually made it with a bang.
I GUARANTEE you this is BS. I bet Colleen Dominguez asked the question, "If you don't feel you can be healthy and play in the NBA, which is more important to you?" and I GUARANTEE you he made the obvious answer, choosing health. Don't get caught up in the ESPN hype train.
I don't think he even has the money to take a plane with the way the Rockets keep fining him. Sad... But I can't get myself to feel sorry for him right now, he is a grown man and it's his decision. I feel sorry for Darral Morray though could gotten Zeller, PJ3, and Jae Crowder instead
mchale is in minnesota, don't think for a second he hasn't called some peeps there to see if they can find a home for royce.
Royce claims he wants to be a role model and a voice for the anxiety disorder community.... Now....correct me if I'm wrong, but walking away from the game, upsetting thousands of fans, childishly bashing the organization that is willingly paying you and took you in the draft on Twitter, and frankly, acting in a very unprofessional manner doesn't seem like the way to go about that. To me, that seems like a massive disappointment to all those that looked up to Royce.
Its basically a staring contest. whose going to blink first. If you know anything about this front office, you can guess pretty easily who its going to be. Meaning, if the Rockets come to him for negotiate a buyout, they have very little power in the negotiations. They will end up having to pay a large chunk of the 3.2 mil left on his contract to get out. Now if Royce comes to them first, more than likely he will be foregoing most if not all his remaining contract amount. The Rockets do not have to negotiate a buyout for Royce if he comes to them. Its either kiss and makeup, walk away and forgo 3+ mil, or keep doing what you are doing, and keep getting fined daily. Keep in mind, he roughly makes 2,300 dollars a day. He's being fined 15K daily. Its only a matter of time that Royce either kisses Morey's shoes and becomes a model citizen, or Royce walks away from 3 mil. I dont know Les, Morey, McHale, etc personally, but they do seem like genuinely good people who want him to be successful, and the fact that they took a chance on guys like him and T-Will says alot about their willingness to give ANYONE a shot. However, dont forget that these are some very schrewd businessmen we are talking about. They new EXACTLY what they were doing when they released a statement saying "We support Royce", but started to fine him daily. Royce is the only one now who can make the decision on which way he wants to go with his life & NBA career.
The Team may terminate a player's contract upon written notice to the player if the player shall at any time, fail, refuse, or neglect to conform his personal conduct to standards of good citizenship, good moral character (defined here to mean not engaging in acts of moral turpitude, whether or not such acts would constitute a crime), and good sportsmanship, to keep himself in first class physical condition, or to obey the Team's training rules. In theory, Rockets can void his contract, but in practice, highly unlikely! It's likely Royce will take his case to arbitration and it could be a PR nightmare for Rockets.
