Royce White is Unhappy With Lack of Playing Time

The Royce White situation in Houston is a dicey one. In addition to the rookie’s anxiety disorder, there’s chatter now that White is frustrated about his complete lack of playing time. Reports the Houston Chronicle: “With White blaming the Rockets for failing to consistently support his treatment for anxiety issues, White is being fined every day he remains away from the team or fails to attend sessions with a therapist the Rockets have arranged for him, a person with knowledge of the situation said. White and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey have declined interview requests. White began to express his dissatisfaction a week ago, according to the person familiar with talks, initially complaining about a lack of opportunity to earn playing time. White met extensively with Rockets general manager Daryl Morey assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff and assistant strength and conditioning coach Dave Macha last Wednesday, and again with Morey on Thursday. White has not played in any game this season and has been on the inactive list for the past four games. Morey told White in those meetings that other players had earned playing time before him. White, however, argued that he was not given enough opportunity to demonstrate that he could earn a place in the rotation, increasingly saying the Rockets were holding his anxiety disorder against him and that he was being treated as a commodity, a position he has repeated in Tweets following Tuesday’s reports about White missing practices. White attended Friday’s morning shootaround and game in Memphis, traveling in a recreational vehicle as part of his agreement with the team to manage the anxiety that comes with his fear of flying. White, however, did not attend practices on Sunday or Tuesday and skipped Monday’s game against the Heat. Morey had planned to discuss sending White to the Rockets NBA Development League affiliate along with fellow rookies Scott Machado and Donatas Motiejunas, but has not seen him to have that conversation.”