Have you ever been so afraid of something it borderline paralyzes you? For those of you that answered yes, you will know exactly what Royce White has gone through for years with his fear of flying. He has been open about his mental illness since his days playing college basketball with Iowa State.
White has yet to show up for training camp while the details of his special travel requests are being worked out in his contract. The Rockets are allowing White to bus to as many away games as possible that are within driving distance, and when there is sufficient time to make the games. Many people in and around the Rockets organization are applauding their move to be flexible, accomodating, and ‘innovative’ with their new rookie’s contract.
He has yet to report to the Rockets training camp while the two sides finalize the details and get approval from the NBA and the players union, which is standard for anything added to an NBA contract.
White said he is hopeful of rejoining the team within a week.
“Let’s see if it helps to be able to bus when you can,” White said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports. “I think that was a great step taken by the Rockets to be able to meet me on this one, and it was a great step in terms of mental illness being taken seriously in the workplace. I just think it’s a very positive thing that happened all the way around.
“They’ve been stellar and what they pretty much are saying is that they don’t care how I get to the games as long as I get to the games.
“They knew when they drafted me there was a fear of flying. That is a very real aspect of my life. There’s no reason why it has to keep me from being successful on the court. There’s definitely no reason why it should be allowed to keep me from being healthy and I think that that’s the main point.”
White, who said he will furnish the bus at his cost, said the details of how many games will work with travel of this kind is still being worked out.
(H/T to MyFoxHouston)
