Royce White skips game and practice (UPDATE: White issues statement)

Surprise surprise, Solomon is on the player's side against Morey. LOL

Nothing has indicated the Rockets aren't willing to let the man work through his conditions. In fact, quite the opposite. They are trying to help him.

Solomon needs to realize that Royce wants to a basketball player getting paid millions of dollars a year. Part of the job description is being able to show up and be a part of the team. If he isn't capable of doing that then he won't make it in the NBA.

 

The sooner he can get over his current anxiety issues and go to the D League to get significant playing time...the sooner he can show he is working toward wanting playing time and get back to the Rockets to see some playing time. The longer this drags out...the less likely he is to re-join the Rockets and play.

My question now is...is he skipping stuff now because he has a beef with Rockets "support" or is he actually going through an anxiety flare-up moment that is preventing him from doing his job? It seems it is awfully close to the discussions about his lack of playing time and that seems to be a part of this. That's my problem with it is all this stuff seems to be happening at the same time and too close to be coincidental. Is he using his disorder and his lack of playing time to make his case? Because one is completely separate from the other.

My advice to White...get it together, get right, show up, accept your D League assignment, go play, work your way back to the Rockets, and show your improvements in practice. Then, you will likely get some playing time in the NBA. He has to understand rookies just don't get playing time by showing up. It's a process and you have to improve through practice to get playing time by showing the coaches you are learning the system and are able to function in the system.

The only thing I really know about White lately is he is a professional tweeterer who likes to air his issues publicly and feels the need to defend himself incessantly.

 

you sign HIPAA releases when you sign a contract to play in the NBA. The team gets full disclosure of all health issues.

 

Apparently what set this off was his discussion with Morey about his current playing time situation.

Morey was on 790 this AM and said this situation took the team by surprise. He also said that he and Keith Jones are the only sources of contact with Royce in the organization, so any of his tweets that attack Rockets management is directed at them.

 

This x10000. There's no ADA component to this at this point. Reasonable accomodations have been made with respect to travel. If you can't show up to games and/or practices, then you can't do the job...and the ADA doesn't have your back if you simply can't do the job.

 

It's pretty simple actually;

If you can't perform the tasks that the job requires then the NBA may not be for you Royce.

Their are a lot of other productive things that he can do with his life. The NBA just may not be one of them.

 

What are you talking about? Do you have information nobody else does?

 

Would you happen to have a link of that? I'd like to hear that interview.

 

Of course the physician will need Royce's consent in regards to disclosure...But i never implied a violation of HIPAA...I suggested that with Royce's permission, the physician may be more able to communicate Royce's needs with the team and therefore improving quality of care...

And yes as one mentioned above..the NBA requires its athletes to waive HIPAA..

 

I'm sure 790 will have it as a podcast, but sorry, I don't have a link. I don't do podcasts.

Basic recap:

Morey said they were surprised by this latest incident, thought they had reached understanding on things.

Was asked if Royce is getting fined everyday, Morey didn't really like the question by the tone of his voice. Said they want him to get help. That's the most important thing. They handle this internally but yes, when he doesn't follow team rules he is fined.

Repeated over and over that they want him to get help.

The most interesting line was when the host (adam) said something like "Obviously you have no reason to want him to fail. It's in your best interest for him to succeed wouldn't you say?"

Morey: (Paraphrased) "Obviously. We very much want him to be healthy and succeed, often times I think more than he does."

 

Here's a segment from the Ken Berger article published last night that I found interesting-

In its simplest form, it's the old "conduct detrimental to the team" clause. By launching public attacks against the Rockets -- tweet after tweet, non-stop, for two days -- White sadly has crossed that line.

Even sadder, he's made it nearly impossible for the people who are in a position to help him -- his agent, the National Basketball Players Association, and yes, the Rockets -- to do so.

There have been high-level talks among union officials and White's representatives about how, if at all, they can defend him against the Rockets' decision to fine him, league sources said. But White's intransigence and social media barrage have made it painfully difficult for them to come to his aid.



So there you have it. Right now, no mention of voiding his contract, but he has no leg to stand on with the fines, which seems like will be frequently occuring if the tweets keep coming and Royce continues to be absent from the team without seeking treatment from their doctor.

Look, after taxes & benefits, Royce will be paid roughly 80 to 85K a month this year for the next 12 months. Taking a 15K one time hit is NOTHING compared to having the Rockets seeking to void his contract financially. I do not think the Rockets would win necessarily, but they have a case to be made if they were seeking to do so with the NBA/NBPA.

IMO, the Rockets are taking it lightly on Royce because I believe his conduct heavily falls under the category "detrimental to the team." The fact of the matter is that his Tweets can be seen as heavily slanderous, with a touch of blackmail that could be investigated and turned back on Royce if lieing. Twitter is not what he thinks it is for someone representing an organization.

Jerome Solomon has made a career at the Chronicle by going against the grain just to get hits on his blog. He says the Rockets need more patience, I say that's completely incorrect. Royce is attempting blackmail, and making slanderous public statments about his employer. The minor fines, to me personally, represent extreme patience. They are giving Royce the ability to turn things around. By all accounts, they could have just given up on him after the first 24 hours of slanderous comments.

I work for a company that holds me accountable for ANYTHING I post on social media that has any connection whatsoever to the company I work for. Its not just pro athletes or politicians that are accountable for what they say on that platform. Its not free speech amongst his friends at a bar, its a public statement that can be used against him in a legal matter... which this could EASILY turn into if the Rockets chose to go that route.

Sorry Solomon... I disagree with you once again.

 

This is what I was talking about yesterday. I'm not sure how strictly the NBA CBA allows teams to enforce conduct detrimental clauses, but Royce needs to be careful. He could end his career before it ever starts.

 

Morey: (Paraphrased) "Obviously. We very much want him to be healthy and succeed, often times I think more than he does." [/B][/QUOTE]

That's the part that gets people who try to help people in need to help in trouble. You can want more for the person and work harder for their success than they're willing to do for themselves. Never works

 

That's the part that gets people who try to help people in need to help in trouble. You can want more for the person and work harder for their success than they're willing to do for themselves. Never works[/QUOTE]

Don't think I'd say "never".

Unlike most people who want to help others, the Rockets have actual LEVERAGE. They can use the carrot AND a stick, and it seems like they're using both to try to direct White towards a more favorable outcome.

Of course, if White is sufficiently intransigent then nobody can make him do anything. On the other hand, he wants to play in the NBA. Hopefully he will reach a point where he realizes that all the outcomes the Rockets desire WILL benefit him as well as the Rockets.

 

Fixed

That's the part that gets people who try to help people in need of help in trouble. You can't want more for the person and work harder for their success than they're willing to do for themselves. Never works[/QUOTE]

 

So his people are trying to communicate...good to hear...

 

The biggest problem with Royce's twitter barrage, is that fans still aren't any closer to understanding what he wants to change. He says #transparency, but no one seems to know what the Rocket's are or are not doing that has upset him, or what he wants to change that would satisfy him. We can't even really say that he is or isn't being reasonable without knowing that, but his tweet aren't helping his cause.


His more recent comments mention being forced to see a doctor he isn't comfortable with and being fined for that, but according to what was reported earlier he only "has to" see the team doctor if he isn't showing up for team functions.

Otherwise it is an option the Rockets have provided that according to Bullard he hasn't used even once. This implies that it isn't anything about the team doctor that Royce isn't comfortable with, he very well may not have even met the team doctor in person yet.

If that is the case he isn't likely to be comfortable with ANY one other than his personal doctor. This could also be a side effect of his condition that is hard for any of us who don't suffer from it to understand. It's hard for any of us to sympathize with his cries of not getting support if he won't even try the therapy that is provided once.

His disorder very well may be the cause of his behavior and something the Rocket's aren't well equiped to understand. Certainly most of us can't understand what he wants. The problem is he seems unwilling to see the Rocket's doctor, who would be the most qualified person in the organization to understand it.

 

I wonder if in the CBA their is a right the team has to void the contract if there ever is an investigation that pertains to blackmail.

From Wiki-
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving unjustified threats to make a gain or cause loss to another unless a demand is met.


-Based on what we read from Berman's report yesterday, there were multiple people who attended the meeting Royce had with Morey regarding his playing time. If they are willing to go on record to say that Royce made threats to get advancements in his career(unearned PT over players that earned it), that should be a case to be made for the Rockets if they decided to go this route.

Then come the slanderous comments, but that's an entirely different case. If this was the NFL, Royce would have been gone a long long time ago.

 

Yeah but this is a big charade about playing time. He wants to start and come and go as he pleases.

I would be mentally healthier to get to miss work and sleep in until noon too. I would be mentally healthier with a corner office. Not having to worry about pretty much anything would make me mentally healthier I tell you. Heck busting nuts and not having to worry about babies and consequences would be the shi**t I tell ya. I mean consequences is overrated. It should be about doing whatever I want whenever. Its for my mental health.

This is like the race card in this case the 'mental health' card.

I think its slightly awesome that the rockets actually called the dudes bluff about the bus and in the end he flamed out on his own. Perhaps we dont know all the details and certainly whites paranoia could be contributing to the mindset that the rockets are out to get him and hold the man down.

 

Morey's interview from this morning-

http://www.sports790.com/player/?st...rogram_id=FeaturedInterviews.xml&mid=22632721