He's an MVP-level player that the Blazers should LMA for right now while nobody realizes he's a nutter. The "Propaganda" hat he wore on PTI was very nice, by the way. It's not Royce's fault, ever!
Royce White's holdout is actually sort of commendable when you consider the awareness raised for the lack of mental health professionals in the NBA. One of White's stipulations was that the team would hire an outside mental health professional to help White cope with his anxiety and OCD. That's not too unreasonable to ask for a franchise worth more than half a billion dollars. With all of the talk about mental health issues in the NFL being pinned on head trauma, how about use this to talk about the lack of mental health treatment in the NBA? It's not like we haven't had mentally ill NBA players before. Most of them just suffered in silence, sometimes with tragic results. Everyone remembers Eddie Griffin, right... the former 6'10", shot blocking, athletic lotto pick from Seton Hall? He was one of the most exciting players out there and had a lot of potential, but mental health issues ruined his career, and ultimately his life. It's not like there weren't warning signs. It was hard not to laugh at the time, when he was crashing his car watching porn, when his girlfriend was shooting at him, or when he was knocking out his own teammate at Seton Hall, but really, those were giant warning signs to his mental illness. If the teams provided better mental health care, maybe he wouldn't have self-medicated with alcohol, and maybe he wouldn't have killed himself.
Very true, but, as Jonathan Givony commented, I wonder if more than anything, it just makes teams far less likely to take the risk at all in the future.
I think they should set up a handicap zone in the key for those who can provide Dr's note that they need a little extra help due to their condition. Maybe make them display some kind of tag on their jersey so they don't get called for being in the handicap portion of the key.
It's not that he has a condition.... It's how he's going about handling it. Who is this guy to DEMAND anything? He calling out mcHale and calling him his "co-worker" throwing his condition in everybody's face and how everybody has to adapt to him. I don't like how's he handling this at all! If he doesn't stay in his lane, he'll be out if the league and down at the free clinic trying to get help!
Agree with HCP, it just seems like hes making demands that he doesn't have the juice to make at this point. The Rockets tried to assign him doctors/therapists but he didn't want their people, he wanted his own people. He didn't want to go to the D-League, he wouldn't take the plane, he wasn't practicing. I know he has a condition but IMO it didn't prevent him from practicing or driving to his D-League affiliate to play. How does his anxiety justify him from outright ignoring an assignment from his team to play in the D-League?
unless they needed the roster spot, no need to cut him, if he doesnt follow orders he gets suspended without pay end of the day he needs to realize the opportunity he has, to make millions of dollars for playing basketball, he doesnt want it, someone else is standing in line rooting for him though
I have an anxiety disorder, obviously they're not all the same, but White is just being a douche about it.
