Royce White Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Royce White Serious About Possible Retirement

November 18th, 2012 at 8:53am CST by Chuck Myron

Royce White told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez a few days ago that he's ready to walk away from the NBA if he and the Rockets can't resolve their issues, and White tells Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston that his feelings about retiring under those circumstances are "totally etched in stone." Nonetheless, he believes he and the Rockets can hash out an agreement, and isn't considering a recent offer from the Harlem Globetrotters.

In Berman's report, White seemed to indicate he and the Rockets were working on additional contract language that would address his obsessive-compulsive and generalized anxiety disorders.

"The Rockets have been great in saying 'we understand that we don't know a lot here,'" White said. "The Rockets asked me 'what can we do better or how can we support you?' I've been writing some ideas based on what I know about mental illness and what I know about myself of trying to create a nice, sound protocol to add in there. I'm making great progress."

White, who insists the matter isn't one of "Royce versus the Rockets," said he isn't upset about not having played in any of Houston's regular season games so far. Still, he has misgivings about how an assignment to the D-League, which seemed to be in the works earlier this week, would mesh with his disorders.

The rookie, who has been away from the Rockets for more than a week, will meet with general manager Daryl Morey on Monday, but White isn't expecting immediate resolution. He believes he shouldn't have returned as quickly as he did from his absence at the start of training camp, saying the plan he and the team arranged to manage his disorders wasn't complete.

"I think we should have waited until the plan was solid and we had thought out the contingencies and we had made it as fail-proof as possible," White said.

According to White, he began to face adversity when he suffered migraines that forced him to miss the Rockets' game against the Blazers on November 3rd, and the problems continued when communication issues between him and the team surfaced, testing his OCD. White, who was being fined for every day he missed team activities or failed to meet with a therapist commissioned by the Rockets, said he is no longer being fined since he's been meeting with the therapist, Dr. Aaron Fink. White called upon the team to treat his illness as a medical issue, surmising that he wouldn't have been fined if his problems were regarded as such.

Latest On Royce White, Rockets

November 16th, 2012 at 5:22pm CST by Luke Adams

5:22pm: White told ESPN that he intends to meet with Rockets GM Daryl Morey to discuss his future. He indicated that he is willing to walk away from the NBA if the situation cannot be resolved.

3:41pm: In the past 24 hours, Royce White has "started to fulfill some of his obligations" to the Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It was reported earlier this week that White was away from the team and wasn't attending sessions with a therapist arranged by the Rockets.

While Wojnarowski is sympathetic to White's anxiety disorder, the Yahoo! scribe's column suggests that the rookie out of Iowa State is putting his NBA career in jeopardy with his recent actions, which include a dispute with the club over his playing time. The Rockets have already created a unique travel plan for White, who has a fear of flying, but he hasn't been fulfilling his end of the agreement so far, Wojnarowski writes. One general manager told Wojnarowski that his team wouldn't have given White the sort of special treatment he's received from the Rockets, and other GMs and owners around the league agree.

"He isn't good enough – and I'm not sure anyone would be good enough – to have a completely different set of guidelines for him," said one GM. "I would've already cut him."

Reports have indicated that the Rockets have no intention of trading or releasing White, but according to Wojnarowski, there are still people close to the forward "begging him to start cooperating with the Rockets again." Although White wants to be an advocate for mental illness, he needs to prioritize himself and saving his own basketball career before it slips away, says Wojnarowski.

Western Notes: White, Bogut, D’Antoni, Gay

November 15th, 2012 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

You'd be hard-pressed to argue that the undefeated Knicks and the defending champion Heat aren't currently the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. Both clubs head west tonight to take on a pair of Western Conference contenders, with the Knicks in San Antonio to face the Spurs, and the Heat playing the Nuggets in Denver. As we await what should be a great night of NBA action, let's round up the latest updates out of the West….

In a pair of columns for the Houston Chronicle, Jerome Solomon argues that the Rockets are handing the Royce White situation poorly, and that patience, not fines, should be central to the team's approach.
Discussing his ankle injury on KNBR in San Francisco, Andrew Bogut said the Warriors have been supportive and haven't pressured him since he arrived in Golden State, but that he still feels as if he's let people down. Brad Gagnon of Sports Radio Interviews has the quotes.
Timberwolves president David Kahn is expecting great things from his club when everyone starts getting healthy, as he tells Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
It was Jerry Buss who had the final say on the Lakers hiring Mike D'Antoni over Phil Jackson, a source tells Joe McDonnell of FOX Sports West.
ESPN.com's five-man panel weighs in on how D'Antoni's arrival will affect the performances of the Lakers' stars, supporting cast, and defense.
The list of head coaches that Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld believes could be on the hot seat are mostly from Eastern Conference clubs, but Kyler identifies Keith Smart of the Kings as one coach who might be in trouble if his team continues to struggle.
In a piece for the New York Times, Beckley Mason asks whether Rudy Gay, the Grizzlies' highest-paid player, is the team's centerpiece or an expensive accessory.

Odds & Ends: Grizzlies, Raptors, White, Thunder

November 14th, 2012 at 11:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun proposes a trade that would send Zach Randolph and Tony Wroten to the Raptors for Andrea Bargnani, Aaron Gray and a second-round pick. Wolstat wonders if the new Grizzlies owners will try to shed salary before the season to avoid paying luxury tax. Memphis is about $4MM above the tax line (Twitter links). I'm skeptical about this one, since trading the team's best player wouldn't exactly make Robert Pera and company the most popular people in Memphis, especially considering the Grizzlies are off to a hot start. While we wait to find out whether any such deal materializes this season, here are a few notes from around the Association.

High-level union officials are discussing whether they can make a credible case that the Rockets shouldn't be fining Royce White for his absences, but White's criticism of the team on Twitter makes the union's job more difficult, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Kevin Martin isn't half the player James Harden is, opines Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com, who counts the deal as a mistake for the Thunder based on early results. (Twitter link).
Magic Johnson wanted Phil Jackson to coach the Lakers, and he lays the blame on executive vice president Jim Buss for what he believes is a mistake, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com observes. "I love (owner) Dr. (Jerry) Buss," Johnson said on ESPN's NBA Countdown show. "I don't believe in Jim Buss."
Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times, conversely, is confident the decision to hire Mike D'Antoni came from Jerry Buss. Dwyre concludes D'Antoni must have been the Lakers' No. 1 choice all along, speculating that the team didn't want to embarrass agent Warren LeGarie by making it look like they had D'Antoni, his client, already lined up to replace Mike Brown, also LeGarie's client, when Brown was fired.

Odds & Ends: Lin, Crawford, Heat, Cavaliers

November 14th, 2012 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Pistons and Wizards hit the road in search of their first wins of the season, let's round up the latest odds and ends from around the NBA:

After his time with the Knicks came to an unexpected and disappointing end, Jeremy Lin is building a better relationship with the Rockets, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes.
When he was navigating free agency this summer, Jamal Crawford was advised to take his time and consider all his options. But, as he tells Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Crawford had his eye on the Clippers from the start: "When I came here, I don’t know if I should say this or not, but they told me I was their first option at lunch. And I told them at the same lunch that they were my first option. My agent didn’t want me to say that, but I was just being honest and we made it happen."
In his latest mailbag for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman fields questions on the possibility of the Heat signing Kenyon Martin and trading Mike Miller.
If the Cavaliers hope to contend for the playoffs this season, they may need to trade for outside bench help at some point, says Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
Yesterday's trade between the Bobcats and Hornets that sent Matt Carroll to New Orleans wasn't overlooked in Dallas by the Mavericks, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com.
Within his NBA AM piece at HoopsWorld, Lang Greene speaks to Ian Mahinmi about the sign-and-trade deal that sent him from the Mavericks to the Pacers.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com discussed the Lakers, Royce White, the 2013 draft, and plenty more in a chat with fans earlier this afternoon.

Royce White ‘Not Available’ For Rockets

November 14th, 2012 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

11:54am: White responded to Feigen's column (linked below) on his Twitter account, suggesting in a series of tweets that not all of the info was accurate, and that he has spoken to the therapist appointed by the Rockets.

WEDNESDAY, 10:07am: Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the latest details on the gulf between the Rockets and White, reporting that the rookie is being fined by the team for each day he remains away from the club or fails to attend sessions with a therapist arranged by the Rockets.

According to Feigen, White and the Rockets are at odds over his playing time, with the team saying that other players have earned minutes over him, while White believes he hasn't been given the opportunity to show he could earn a place in the rotation.

In spite of the situation, the Rockets have no plans to trade or release White, says Feigen.

TUESDAY, 9:41pm: White says via Twitter that he's "most definitely not AWOL" and that his problem with the Rockets goes back long before the D-League assignment (Twitter links; hat tip to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld).

8:32pm: White released a statement criticizing the team's handling of his anxiety. According to TNT's David Aldridge, he said the team has been "inconsistent" in sticking to their agreement to accomodate his disorders, and says the lack of support will make him unhealthy, "and that is not a consequence that I am willing to accept to play any sport" (Twitter links). Mark Berman of Fox 26 recounted the statement via a lengthy Twitter burst.

"In hindsight, perhaps it was not a good idea to be open and honest about my anxiety disorder, due to the current situations at hand that involve the nature of actions from the Houston Rockets," White said, adding that the team is aware of the reason for his absence.

Rockets Assign Motiejunas, Machado To D-League

November 14th, 2012 at 10:02am CST by Zachary Links

WEDNESDAY, 10:02am: The Rockets have assigned Motiejunas and Machado to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to RealGM.com's transactions log. Given White's uncertain status, it appears he hasn't been officially signed to Houston's D-League affiliate at this point. As Hoops Rumors' Chuck Myron pointed out last night, NBA teams were previously limited to assigning two players at a time to D-League affiliates, so it's not clear whether that affects White's situation or if the rule has changed.

MONDAY, 10:47pm: The Rockets are sending Royce White, Donatas Motiejunas, and Scott Machado to their NBA D-League affiliate, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter). Of the three players, Motiejunas is the only one to have logged NBA minutes with five minutes of play last night against the Pistons.

White, the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, picked up national attention for his unexpected absence from Rockets training camp over the summer. It turns out that the forward was struggling with anxiety issues, including a fear of flying. Later in the week, the two sides worked out an agreement in which White could travel to a portion of road games via bus rather than fly with the team.

Western Notes: Eyenga, Harden, Green, Karl

October 23rd, 2012 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers liked Christian Eyenga, who they acquired last year from the Cavaliers, and after the third-year swingman was waived by the Magic earlier today, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports wondered (via Twitter) if Los Angeles could try to get him back. However, because Eyenga was traded by the Lakers to Orlando in August, L.A. is ineligible to either claim him off waivers or sign him before his contract expires next July, so Eyenga will have to find work elsewhere.

Here are a few more late-morning notes out of the Western Conference:

There's no question that the Suns would love to get a chance to sign James Harden and would likely make him an aggressive offer if he reaches restricted free agency, says Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. However, Coro wonders if it might be as futile an endeavor as Phoenix's pursuit of Eric Gordon was this past summer.
Having signed a three-year contract with the Spurs this summer, Danny Green is excited about having some security this season, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. "It’s very nice," Green said. "Obviously, it allows me to play a little bit more comfortably, to know that this organization is behind me and they want me here…. Even though I got that security, I’m still taking that time to approach the game like I did before without the contract."
Coby Karl hasn't officially been cut from the Trail Blazers' roster, but he's expecting that to happen soon, as he tells CSNNW.com.
Even with the Mavericks hopeful that Dirk Nowitzki could return from knee surgery by mid-November, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com wonders how the team's chemistry will be affected by his absence.
Agent Andrew Vye tells Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston that his client Royce White has a plan in place for traveling to games that everyone is on board with, "including the league, the union, the Rockets, and Royce and us."

Lawrence On Josh Smith, White, Lin, Nets, Cuban

October 13th, 2012 at 4:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News shares tidbits from around the league in his Saturday roundup, and this time several of them have to do with the Hawks and Rockets. We'll hit the highlights here.

Josh Smith has informed the Hawks he isn't going to sign an extension during the season, according to Lawrence. That's in line with a report last month from Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Smith and the team were unlikely to agree to an extension. Smith's stance makes sense, considering he could get five years if he re-signs with Atlanta next summer and only three if he signs an extension. In that same report, Vivlamore said Smith is open to a long-term future with the Hawks.
The Hawks were one of several teams that weren't considering drafting Royce White because of his psychological disorders, Lawrence says, predicting the Rockets will look to trade White if fellow rookie Jeremy Lamb continues to impress.
Lawrence argues that Jeremy Lin's knee, which has been slow to recover, is just another sign that the Rockets overpaid for the point guard with a three-year, $25.124MM offer sheet the Knicks declined to match.
When Avery Johnson interviewed for the Hawks head coaching job in 2010, he said he'd only take the gig if the team intended to re-sign Joe Johnson. The pair, who aren't related, are now together with the Nets.
Nearly a year after a sign-and-trade that sent him to the Knicks, Tyson Chandler still has hard feelings for Mavs owner Mark Cuban, as Lawrence notes. "He never called to thank me for helping his team win the title, or wish me luck, after I decided to sign here," Chandler said. "I thought he would call me, but he never did."

Royce White Rejoins Rockets

October 8th, 2012 at 5:24pm CST by Michael Pina

After a missing out on his team's opening days of preseason while dealing with personal anxiety issues, Rockets rookie forward Royce White has rejoined the team for his first training camp, reports the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen. The reason for White's absence was an ongoing negotiation with the team about how he could travel by bus to most of Houston's road games, as opposed to flying with the rest of his teammates.

White will travel with the Rockets to their first preseason game against the Thunder on Wednesday. He was selected with the 16th pick in the 2012 NBA draft.