The Royce White Report: Royce White Reports

In the most celebrated news the NBDL has ever seen, Royce White today reported to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. RGV is the "AAA" affiliate of the Houston Rockets, who drafted White in the middle of the 1st round just over 6 months ago.

The news is news because White truly is a transcendent talent. At 6'8" and about 270 lbs, he led Iowa State last season in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He also led the Cyclones to their first NCAA tournament berth in 7 years. He has the body type and (most of) the skills of LeBron James.

But white enters the NBA season just before the All-Star break in the D-League, since he and Rockets management couldn't come to an understanding regarding his anxiety disorder. But White made plenty of news cycles, Twitter news feeds, and even HBO's Real Sports as an advocate for the mentally ill during his hiatus/exile.

Yesterday White passed his physical. Today he reported for action. Tomorrow he should make his pro debut against the Maine Red Claws. The national glare should be on him for about a day, then he'll play for crowds in the 5,000 range until the Rockets decide whether to elevate him to the big leagues.

After the detente, the timing of the return is of no surprise. The Vipers just returned from a 6-game road trip, and the road trips are a concern for White because of a fear of flying (among other things).

Hopefully White can achieve peace, and then eventually some acclaim in the NBA. He certainly seems ready to go.

Rio Grande... Im here! They're going to get this work, and they're going to love it. #LandofLions#BeWell
— Royce White (@Highway_30) February 11, 2013

Groundhog Day At Iowa State University

Welcome to Ames, Iowa, the home of Iowa State University and the famously inaccurate Iowa Straw Poll.

Every year the trip to Ames worms its way onto my calendar. Not that life's so terrible, it's a good basketball team in a really good basketball venue at Hilton Coliseum. But you can cut and paste the above picture for just about every Iowa State trip I've ever made during hoops season.

There's going to be temperatures in the teens, wind gusts in the twenties, and a thin-to-medium layer of snow and/or ice on the roads. It will be bleak, but a sliver of sun can change your whole mood.

I say this mantra about most Big 12 towns, it's not too bad once you get there. A late dinner at the West Towne Pub yielded some surprisingly good bar food and a solid local IPA, Hop Wrangler from the Peace Tree Brewing Co. in Knoxville, IA. And of course the lunch staple is Wallaby's, one of the best college town bar and grilles in the nation.

Another thing you can count on at Iowa State is they'll win at home. Especially since Fred Hoiberg returned to coach his alma mater. And they're having another fine season, even though Royce White left school early for the NBA - though he hasn't played in the NBA - but that's a story for another blog post.

On this trip, the Cyclones defeated Baylor for their 19th straight home win, and 11th straight home win in the Big 12. And Kansas even lost at home today, so that's pretty impressive.

They call it Hilton Magic, where Iowa State repeatedly stymie opponents. There was even a sign declaring "six more weeks of Hilton Magic." And it snowed 3+ inches outside while the sellout crowd cheered another Cyclone home win. Groundhog Day indeed.

Royce White On Real Sports

In the first TV sit-down since Royce White's rift with the Houston Rockets, we didn't get too much more than White has already put out there in the social media world. In fact in an expansive feature like this, it's surprising the tons of Twitter hate messages weren't ever addressed.

I thought Bernard Goldberg was an interesting choice of correspondents to handle the interview - a well-known politically incorrect cynic - which is actually a good foil for White to explain himself.

As Royce White has stressed all along, he is lucid and aware of his anxiety disorder and OCD. When Goldberg asked about why so many teams passed on him before the Rockets took him at #16, is that because they thought he was "crazy?"

"That's the stigma that exists so I expected it. It represents a lack of awareness and a very serious, detrimental stigma."

But the Rockets went out on a limb. They even arranged for separate transportation to allow for White's fear of flying. But right before the season began, White insisted that an independent doctor - not a team doctor - have the say on White's day-to-day fitness to suit up. That's the gap they've been unable to bridge. White thinks the team doctor would have the team's best interests, not his.

"Mental health (disorder) is a documented disability by federal law. It's been around for a long time, it's not brand new. It's new to talk about, it's new to admit. It's not new. My health can't be bought, my morals can't be bought. I'll remain to advocate for myself to have a healthy, safe work environment. I'll remain to stick to my morals."

The team doesn't want to cross that line. What could set White off into an episode? Harsh words? Reduced playing time? At Iowa State he was the star and they weren't going anywhere without him. In the NBA, grown men are paid a lot of money to accept their role. If White gets extra-special treatment and coddling, how does the organizational structure of the team remain intact?

White says he isn't ready to play in the NBA if mental health protocols aren't met.

"What goes along with mental health that goes untreated? Alcohol abuse. Marijuana abuse. Suicidal behavior. Homicidal behavior. Those are things I'm not willing to risk to play basketball. To have money, to have fame?" 

White shrugged. For people who haven't seen him before and only know about the story, they will be surprised how thoughtful and "normal" he seems.

It's not a black and white issue, it's a gray area that White has taken the world of sports into. And it's fear of the unknown on both sides that will likely keep White on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

Stuck In Neutral On Highway 30

If you haven't been following one of the muddier stories in sports, @Highway_30 is the Twitter handle for Houston Rockets rookie forward Royce White.

But to call White an NBA rookie or a Houston Rocket is starting to become a stretch. Despite being a 1st round selection and guaranteed $3.4M for his first two years, he has not played a minute. He has not been with the team and refused a D-League assignment. And today he was suspended by the team.

This is not your standard-issue contract holdout, or suspension for a violation of team rules. White has been suspended for "refusing to provide services" to his employer, the Houston Rockets.

White has an anxiety disorder, which includes a fear of flying. He claims to be working with the Rockets to come to an arrangement by which he could be a member of the team as well as tend to his mental health. The team appears to be ready to work with him, but it is White himself who can't commit.

White has become something of a phenom on Twitter with more than 140K followers. He has consistently drawn attention to his situation, and to the big picture of mental health in America. And he seems fully prepared to martyr his NBA career to bring light to the issue. Many go to his page on Twitter just to berate and insult him on the issue. His response is most always the same #BeWell friend...

White has a lot to say on mental health, including the Newtown shootings. He is making all of us think outside the box on the issue. He is an artist, a poet, a spokesman. But every day he becomes more at risk of not being a professional basketball player. And that's why the hatred on Twitter.

Like the Dixie Chicks were once told to "Shut up and sing," the response to White is "shut up and play." But White is adamant about raising questions, not dropping them.

White's music career may indeed be successful, and he may have a national voice on the issues on Oprah or some other platform. But a career in the NBA is looking less and less likely. Highway 30 doesn't necessarily connect Point A and Point B.

Outside The Box: The Royce White Situation

The saga of Royce White is gaining a lot of media momentum. A special athlete and unique basketball talent, a fine student and artist, who also suffers from anxiety disorders.

It is creating a serious tension between the man and the professional. It isn't a unique story, but White's straight talk on the issue is breaking new ground. His unwillingness (inability) to fly with the team, as well as other episodes have made his attachment to his employer, the Houston Rockets, very shaky.

It's not like the Rockets didn't know about White's problems, which were well documented in college. But his situation at Iowa State was ideal. His coach was Fred Hoiberg, who by all accounts is a prince of a guy. And if you've ever been to Ames Iowa, you know it's an insular college town where individual situations can be managed quietly - as opposed to being a star football player at LSU or hoops rock star at Kentucky.

Iowa State also lives on the Big 12's I-35 corridor, which connects most schools in the conference. Life is a highway, not a charter jet. And White thrived in his one year with the Cyclones. At 6'8" 270, and a sophomore, he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

White handled like Magic, rebounded like Moses, and made the All-Big 12 team. Then he declared for the NBA Draft, and the Rockets took him 16th overall.

Since then, it appears that the Rockets have bent over backwards to create the ideal environment to accommodate White's limitations. But White has been on his own schedule, often not attending team practices and sessions with the team's therapist.

The results have been the recent racking up of fines and an eventual demotion to the D-League, a fate that would have befallen any "normal" player. Royce White says he is not normal, and has since been using his Twitter feed to elevate the issue.

He has become an outspoken advocate for the mentally ill, but he is also a member of an NBA team. Those two things, it appears more and more each day, are becoming mutually exclusive.

The great Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a much more eloquent and direct column about this than I ever could (as he is paid to do), about how this fight may cost White his career.

"Houston redid White's contract so it could pay for White's RV and car services on trips, because of his fear of flying. The Rockets have let him come and go this season without fining him. They owe him that patience and understanding, but they don't owe him playing time. That's earned in the NBA..."

"If it was easier for White to manage his anxiety disorder when he was the star at Iowa State, well, that isn't the Rockets problem. There's no leveraging an anxiety disorder to get out of a D-League demotion and onto the NBA floor."

While White's situation is complicated, he isn't nearly the first pro athlete to have this condition. If he can bring more awareness to the struggles of day-to-day life of mental illness in the professional world, God bless him. But he is now treading down a dangerous path towards martyrdom, and is at risk of being a cautionary tale.

White meets today with Rockets GM Daryl Morey on the issue. Hopefully they'll come up with a solution that benefits all parties, though the common ground seems to be shrinking around them.

But what White needs to realize the most is that this is a speed bump in a hopefully very long career, and he would be wise to take whatever time he needs to figure that out. Then he can return, dedicated to basketball, and use that forum to deliver his message.