Royce White refuses assignment to D-League (UPDATE: Rockets suspend him)

wow.... i don't know how the rox recover from this one without either quickly addresing this publicly and somewhat admiting culpability... or to address this by seeking contract nullification.

i am dissapoint

thought the way the rockets handled this quietly, behind the scenes gave them an opportunity to still keep the man on the team. they did their part and he refuses to do his.

 

I've tried to be patient, but I've had it with this clown. Too bad the NBAPA won't allow teams to void contracts.

We should have just traded the pick to Atlanta and meet our obligation, instead of drafting White with the idea we could flip him and TJones for Howard.

Trade this fool for a 2nd rounder, try to cut our losses, and move on.

 

which isn't actually a bad thing. Those guys have to work harder despite of their talents

 

So this is one of two things-

-Either the Rockets knew he would refuse the D-League assignment and assigned him anyways as a way of legally helping themselves out dramatically in getting his contract voided with compensation as Bill Bradley alluded to earlier

or

-Royce had been "planning" on doing this all along, and this is premeditated.

It has to be either one or the other. It can't be neither.


The Rockets and Royce had been working on this "plan" for weeks now. It wouldn't make any sense for both parties to go through the early stages of the "plan" to now pull the plug right now at the VERY LAST MINUTE before he goes down to RGV this afternoon. So something is fishy here. Either this is the Rockets taking initiative to finally get rid of Royce by forcing him to S$%# or get off the pot, or Royce is truly conniving deranged lunatic.

Both seem feasible at this point. Especially after reading the part where he references one of the most tragic sensitive moments in our country's history and somehow finds it to be a good idea to connect his mental health issues to his OCD, fear of flying, or whatever issue he has fallen in love with this hour that he can use for public sentiment.

Him and his mental issues have nothing to do with that situation that he knows NOTHING about personally. Using that tragedy for his own personal gain just about threw out any ounce of respect I had for the guy.

Yes, mental health is a HUGE issue in this country, and maybe if people could have reached that young man earlier in his life we all could have avoided that tragedy. But connecting Royce's mental health to that tragedy... Is that supposed to be a threat Royce??? Im confused at how your mental health has anything to do with that situation??

 

Screw him. Blacklist him with the league unless its all ready done. Have fun never making those millions playing basketball prick.

 

Oh I see what Maury is doing.

Rockets being classy so the rest of the league sees how difficult this situation is. That way nobody wants White and when Whites contract is up, and he is playing, nobody will want him so he will only have to take the vet minimum from the Rockets while averaging 5 points 4 rbs and 2 assists off the bench. #progress

 

Real talk: This is a constant problem with minority athletes born and recruited out of midwestern states who then go on to play in midwestern schools up in the icy armpit of America. The people are lovely there and all, but they are homogeneous and super non-diverse as well. So they are knee-deep in white guilt and search out some focus for it. And they find it in people like Royce White, who are eager to take take take as long as there is somebody willing to give give give. It is a problem.

In Houston, we run this show differently. We have a rich basketball culture and an exhaustive supply of young men and women from all backgrounds and circumstances who will hoop the kicks off of one Royce White. We home grow our ballers and they're not exactly rare nor the favorite subjects of white worship. Royce White, you reading this son? I can pull an 18 year-old out of the wards right now who will dunk on you twice for every tweet. You're going to go from being the only brother for 10 square miles in Humplick, Iowa, to scrub status on an H-town rec center court in no time.

You have no idea my man. You think we had to import random brothers like, for instance, DeAndre Jordan or Emeka Okafor? They're just from here. Grew up here. Raised on basketball. And they're in the Association right now, at peak physical fitness, having successful careers. What about you? You making excuses not to get your butt kicked in the D-league of all places?

My point is this: We are so desensitized to GOOD BASKETBALL PLAYERS OH MY GOODNESS HOLD ME IMA FAINTING around here already, that we are just that much more unimpressed with somebody who hasn't shown us a damn thing.

So, dunks my son. A neverending barrage of dunks. All up on you. Love from the wards to you.

 

I believe that Royce's general practitioner suggested that consistent playing time would help Royce become adjusted to playing pro basketball.

The Rockets apparently wanted to send him down to the Vipers where he could get consistent playing time.

From everything I have read, Royce has still refused to meet with any mental health specialist recommended arranged or employed by the team. As a matter of fact I dont think he sees any mental health specialists instead opting to see his general practicioner who "knows whats best for him."

 

One other possibility- it could be both. It is not inconceivable that both parties want to cut ties here, but where the big difference may lie is that White wants to get paid and the Rockets don't want to pay him. We could be headed for a legal battle here, which I don't see the Rockets losing.

 

How dare he tie his situation with the school shootings! No shame at all. He thinks he is creating all this awareness for mental health but what employer would hire someone like him after what happened here?

 

Well, I agree with you that, if this were to play itself out this way--i.e., Houston voids his contract, White sues for breach of contract, White refuses a settlement offer (as frequently happens with a completely irrational plaintiff), the matter goes to trial--Houston would prevail.

However, Houston would have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in order to properly defend any such lawsuit.

At this point, Houston would want to offer White plus a few hundred thousand dollars cash to a team in exchange for nothing (i.e., "draft considerations" or "cash considerations"). Houston has presumably already made this offer to every other team over the past 48 hours or so. If Houston fails to find a taker, then they move on to Plan B, wherein they offer White a buyout agreement. White is behaving like your classic deranged, irate, indignant plaintiff, so he will presumably reject any such buyout agreement, in which case we move on to Plan C, wherein the Rockets void his contract and dare him to sue them, which is what I believe will happen.

So let's hope that the Rockets are able to unload White onto somebody today or tomorrow. Who knows, maybe somebody will take him. The Bobcats have lost how many games in a row now?

 

What's sad is that he's not only turning employers away from him, but he's creating a bad image for basketball players with mental illness. I don't expect other teams to want to draft players with anxiety, etc any time soon after this whole mess.

 

Yes, I thought it could be a little of both, but there is no way its Neither. There was a "plan" in place that Royce had been following up to this point. So why at the last minute would he either refuse the next step, or the Rockets assign him when they weren't supposed to when it was well documented that both parties agreed to these very terms weeks ago???

Ken Berger wrote back in November that Royce has refused assistance from the NBPA who has reached out to him. If you read between the lines of what he was getting at. The NBPA was basically saying... get off of twitter because you are killing any case we have with what you are saying. Without the support of the NBPA, its a lost cause for him to ever get a dime from the Rockets in a legal battle. Royce had other plans, and its going to bite him in the a#$ and mostly the pocketbook.

 

The Rockets would most likely lose, not win, they were aware of his health condition, and if its deemed to be due to the pre existing condition, which it almost most certainly is, the rockets don't have much ground to stand on. (keep in mind the nba players are exempt to all other labor laws besides those set down in their CBA)

 

Bingo. Although the NBAPA is still presumably obliged to represent Mr. White in any such legal battle, even if they don't like their chances at winning at trial. I'd say that Houston has its bases covered and that Mr. White will not only be unsuccessful at trial but will permanently scare off all other employers, NBA teams and otherwise, by behaving in such a bizarre, irrational, and litigious manner. I expect Mr. White to be living on the streets within a couple of years, in and out of jail, on and off his meds... the whole thing is just really sad.

 

the Rockets can... because they took a chance on him pre-Harden, when the team lacked talent
Now they have a direction to go, they don't need a top talented undersized PF which was top priority... talent
and what is evident he displayed more holes in his game than expected, not able to move without hogging the ball at all

CHANGE OF PLAN it is called and Rockets are doing those things because they promised and tried showcase him to other teams

 

The one thing that may bite him in the ass is that whole twitter thing as mentioned will probably breach good faith.

 

Can you back this up? If true, Royce's "general practitioner" is probably an unlicensed con artist.

 

Strongly disagree. Mr. White obviously is off his meds. His condition is treatable with medication, as evidenced by his performance in college, both on the court and in the classroom. Mr. White's refusal to get back on his meds, along with his refusal to work with an employer who was very clearly bending over backwards to accommodate him, kills his legal arguments.

Again, let's hope that the Rockets are able to pawn this guy off on some sucker like Charlotte so he can become someone else's problem.

 

#maury