#16 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, Royce White from Iowa State University.
What a highlight video!! Let the hoop-shaking dunks, feathery touch with the ball, deft passing, and tough defense sink in. Then realize this, Royce White is an unnatural talent. White is 6’8″ tall and weighs 260 pounds. If you listened to the stats announced in the video, you heard that White led his Iowa State team in EVERY category. Here is a guy with the quickness, smarts, and ball-handling ability to play the point guard spot (and he did, very well, leading the Cyclones in assists) and the strength, power, size, and aggressiveness to score and rebound in the post as a power forward (and he did, with the best in the nation). This kind of skill set and versatile game is almost nonexistent in the game today on the NBA level. The “point-forward” who can push the ball the length of the court, shaking off defenders and finishing with a thunder dunk or blistering, no-look pass? I want three! But today, Royce White is hair away from walking away from the game he loves.
The story of Royce White, unfortunately, has turned into one of misunderstanding and sadness. As a collegiate player (who bounced between a couple schools), it became known that White suffered from an unknown mental health issue and was prone to severe anxiety attacks. White has an admitted fear of flying (he basically refuses to fly…although he has made a few exceptions) along with an apparent stress/anxiety issue with change and new faces. In college, with a less rigorous game schedule, Iowa State was able to accommodate White and bus/drive him to games. Throughout his collegiate career, Royce White never missed a NCAA basketball game due to his condition. His vast skills, size, and future upside had him rumored as a possible top 10 pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
White fell, slightly, before he was selected at #16 by the Houston Rockets. Leading up to the draft, many teams met with Royce and discussed the future ahead. White was very open with his disability and made it clear to al the NBA teams that he had some certain needs and areas to be addressed to complete the transition to professional basketball. While things seemed to start off good for White and the Rockets, to say it has recently fallen apart would be a huge understatement. Houston began by insisting they were in tune with the needs of their new rookie, and promoted that they would be very patient and understanding. They set up White with some mental health specialists in the Houston area, and tried to slowly integrate him to the team. Yet, it has all crumbled. The Rockets have begun to discuss White’s failures and their frusterations with his progress. White played in one preseason game, but has not been available before or since his lone appearance. White and the Rockets have been raging a battle of words, as Royce has taken to Twitter (@Highway_30) with his feelings of disrespect and lack of understanding from his team. The Rockets, of course, have had to respond to his digital public voice, and the sides are a long ways apart. Royce feels that Houston lacks compassion for the amount of time he needs and the situations he is trying to deal with. The Rockets feel like Royce is taking advantage of them using his disorder. The problem…. nobody knows who’s right/wrong! Mental health issues are hard to deal with for not only the afflicted, but all those who surround them. Family members of folks with mental health problems could tell you how tough it is to comprehend what’s happening inside someone’s mind. Care is frustrating, time consuming, and painful. And the healthy human mind just simply cannot even fathom the things going on inside the mind of an affected person. How can you equally and understandingly act and communicate?
The Houston Rockets are Royce White’s family now. They knew what they were getting when they chose Royce. They preached patience…and they need to exercise it. The guy has proven he can play, and other organizations were able to get him to that point. Work with him. Be his teammate and advocate, not his adversary. Because if you can find a way to get Royce White out on the hardwood wearing your team’s jersey, your team will be much the better for it. Ask an Iowa State fan!
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