A day after the Rockets assigned rookie
forward Royce White to the NBA Development League affiliate, a move they
considered the next step in bringing him back to the team, White has refused to
accept the assignment.
White was to report to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on
Monday, after the team returned from a game in Bakersfield, Calif.
A person with knowledge of the team’s thinking said that the
assignment was the second part of a plan to bring him back to the team that
began with White working out with a basketball staff intern last week at Toyota
Center.
White, however, issued a statement indicating that the Rockets have not
followed the recommendations of medical professionals working with White to
manage his generalized anxiety disorder. White, the 16th player taken in the
draft, has not played this season.
White issued a statement to explain his position.
“We say there is such an unknown element to mental health in this
country, due to the number of people who are not diagnosed. This element also
makes it a tough demographic to support.
I agree.
However, it saddens and frightens me to know that in this situation
all the decision makers involved have been informed of all the medical
dynamics, and yet still refuse to adhere to medical sensibility. In hindsight
of the recent tragedies in this country, that had mental illness variables, you
would think it would encourage people to act more proactively in that arena.
You would think that decision makers who are not well informed about mental
health, would take the consultation and recommendation of those who are. You
would think we would start to do everything possible to not let the tragic
consequences befall us first, before we ask the logical question, “why?”, “who
knew?” “how could we have helped?. Why not take a proactive approach of “who
knows?” “how can we listen?”, “how can we support now?”
I do wish to play, but I only intend to do so with the collaboration
and recommendation of trained professionals. The purpose of a doctor’s
confirmation is to ensure that health decisions are made in the sole interest
of health and not conflicted with business. My only hope is that decision
makers involved realize that doctors are the only logical source to decide
action.
There is an admitted lack of knowledge on behalf of the Rockets and
the NBA, it becomes transparent as they choose to forego the knowledge of
trained professionals and make independent decisions for something as complex
as mental health without consulting any doctors. The Rockets have told me in
recent conversations that it is their right to decline even their own doctors’
recommendations. The concept of not listening to medical consultants in medical
situations is alarming. It is also alarming that a player is susceptible to
fines for simply adhering to the recommendation of doctors.
It is true that accommodating mental health can be very tough and
complex, however, sometimes the only reasonable solution to doing what is right
is doing what is tough. To portray that the Rockets have been supportive to me
is fundamentally incorrect.
The information that the Houston Rockets have publicly presented
about this situation has been extremely misleading and a lot of times totally
inaccurate. An image of support has been presented by the Rockets, but the only
logical support here would be listening to the recommendation of the medical
professionals involved. That has not totally happened here. I have chosen to
not play, because the doctors and I believe it to be unsafe for unqualified
Rockets front office personnel to make medical decisions, as they are not
mental health professionals.”