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

Seems to me that Royce's ego is less anxious about his newfound "stardom" as a wannabe Cesar Chavez, fighting for the rights of people with mental illnesses everywhere than it is about the possibility of him being an NBA player with an interesting skillset that is unfortunately lacking in key areas and would thus keep him somewhere near the end of a roster.

In other words, he knows he can't be a star as a player at this level, so he revels in his Twitter stardom, fleeting though it will be. Good luck with that. #I'mFriggin'Gandhi!

In today's radio interview, Morey couldn't say anything about it, but the tone of his voice sounded like he's totally fed up with the entire situation.

 

Yeah, I think Royce has set back those with a mental illness with all of his antics.

 

Quotes from the radio interview if you haven't gotten the chance to listen yet:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/53210/will-royce-white-ever-play-in-the-nba

 

Nice find, CH. Here's an excerpt:

 

LOL, someone's bitter.

 

As bad as things are, it could be worse. I'm just glad Houston is able to keep him away from the team so that he won't contaminate the locker room and ruin the chemistry.

 

If this is not all b.s., then he needs to face the fact that he is not medically able to play in the NBA. He can agree to having his contract voided, and move on to the Israeli league, where he can ride the bus. If his condition changes in the future, the Rockets would still have his draft rights, correct? Sort of like Orlando after it drafted Fran Vazquez.

 

Obviously his mental issue were well documented. If morey should be blaming anyone it is himself.

 

I don't think it's the travel thing anymore....seems like it might be the fact he doesn't want to always have to go to practice or do certain things.

DM is a reasonable man. I highly doubt the Rockets would ask him to do anything risky. The doctors might say - you have to let him skip practices if he needs to because of his disorder. And the Rockets might be rejecting that. But i am of course speculating....but not sure what else could be an issue.

 

I still disagree with "blaming" Morey or the team -- they took a calculated risk that didn't pay off. Not very different from CD drafting Mirsad Türkcan with the 18th pick in '98 -- except for Royce having a higher upside AND worse downside. One of them refused to play, the other wasn't near good enough; but they were both calculated risks.

 

It sounds to me like the "protocol" is that as long as White gets consent from his doctors, he can skip out on D-league assignments, road trips, home games, practices, whatever, ostensibly for medical reasons, and the team can't fine him for it. I suppose that's what he means by his doctors having "executive authority".

The Rockets went through something like this with McGrady before. I wonder if their reluctance to concede on this point doesn't have something to do with those experiences.

 

the only place where doctors should have executive authority is in a hospital.

 

yeah, that's basically it. I think from the Rockets perspective, that's too much. It sounds like he just doesn't want to practice and is using his disorder to get what he wants.

I think the Rockets are right in saying no. I think it's one thing to say if a doctor is with him and evaluating him and he can't go to practice because of treatment..maybe. But if he is asking to be able to stay home and skip out on practice...that's a massive red flag.

I think the Rockets hold their ground. He wants to play ball, he'll figure out how to give in. But it concerns me more....that we'd want a player who has this type of approach to a condition.

I am very curious as to what the doctors are actually saying.

 

Imagine if any other profession allowed. It's ridiculous. This would hamstring any business and give all the power to mental health sufferers.

 

I think Royce White is convinced he's in the right here, and his self-righteousness/pride will keep him from eventually compromising even when it becomes increasingly clear that it would be in his best interest. My guess is he never plays for the Rockets, and if he does eventually play in the NBA it will be years down the road.

 

Interesting point.

The difference is that Vazquez never signed a contract with Orlando while Royce White has signed a contract with Houston. So, Vazquez can simply decide not to play in the NBA and Orlando will keep on holding his rights (similar situation to how Scola was with the Spurs holding his rights but he didn't come over for years). With White, he has already signed a contract with Houston, so that contract has to be dealt with somehow. If he wants to play overseas, FIBA would not clear him while he is still under contract. If the Rockets are to release him, then, much like what happened when they released Daequan Cook just now or when they released Terrence Williams last season, they would not hold any rights over him now.

I wonder if there is any way for both Royce White and the Rockets to mutually agree (with the blessing of the NBA and the Players Association, of course) to "rescind" the contract so that it's as though we turn the clock back to after the draft be before the signing of the rookie deal so he essentially returns to "Fran Vazquez" "Luis Scola" or "Sergio Llull" status.

Not sure what the applicable law is (I'd imagine the CBA and uniform player contract have choice of law provisions), but it would seem some contractual theory of "mistake" might be applicable here (i.e. both Royce White and the Rockets erroneously thought that he could handle NBA life when, at least at this point, he cannot, so both sides agree to rescind the contract, but this does not affect the fact that he entered the draft and Houston drafted him.).

Any thoughts from BimaThug or any other lawyers here?

 

It's an interesting concept, medical personnel having 100% say in coaching decisions. Was that ever NOT the case with physical ailments? Did coaches actually FORCE players to play against the advice of team doctors?

It'll be fascinating to see how this all plays out. I wouldn't think it would be any more difficult for a player to fake, say, plantar fasciitis (which is difficult to spot via X-rays and scans) than for him to fake an anxiety attack, especially if he's had such attacks before and knows how to fake them.

Whether Royce is mildly afraid to fly or determined not to play in the D-League, he could probably manufacture an attack that may convince doctors to proclaim him unfit to play. Seeing as how there are many levels of anxiety, it opens the door to him exaggerating when he feels mildly anxious, rather than attempt to fight through it. Sounds like it would be counter-productive to his properly combating his illness.

 

"my dactar sed i need 30 min a game to treet my #anxitytrooper pls maury pls play me or else i say #protocol in tweeter"

 

McGrady was coming back from a potential career ending surgery.
It was different....because he was in the twilight of his career and demanding minutes.... which he could because he was the star seasons ago. Coach refused. Fair enough.

so basically a rookie without any production is demanding is just another dimension.

 

I was actually thinking about the season prior to that (when we had Ron Artest). He had some protocol in place about he doesn't play back-to-backs. I'm sure he was also insisting on not practicing regularly. And then his doctor recommended micro-fracture surgery and he announced that on his website without first consulting the team.