USA TODAY International Edition
ROYCE WHITE
Royce White left the NBA three years ago amid demands for a better mental health initiative from the league. Today, playing basketball in Canada, he speaks bluntly about mental illness and salts his conversation with colorful metaphors and offcolor language.
“It’s not about the NBA,” he says. “If (expletive) Walmart didn’t have a (reasonable mental health) policy, I would have done the same thing there, too.”
He grew up in Minneapolis, largely raised by a single mother and grandmother. Speaking his mind always came naturally.
“I didn’t have men around me growing up who saw having anxiety as weak or not tough enough,” White says. “I grew up with a lot of diversity. Instead of having that traditional onemale role model, I was allowed to have many. And maybe it’s just where I’m from, but that whole masculinity (stereotype) — men can’t show weakness (crap) — wasn’t around.”
One of White’s male role models was his fiery high school coach, Dave Thorson, now an assistant coach at Drake, who led White to therapy. An in-school family practitioner ultimately diagnosed him with generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Since, he has embraced his illnesses rather than hide them in silence.
“The million-dollar question is, ‘Does what you go through make you better or worse?’ ” White says. “I actually look at my anxiety as a blessing.”
White, the Houston Rockets’ firstround draft choice (16th pick overall) in 2012, made headlines when he asked for accommodations to address panic attacks when he flew on planes. He had made 20 plane trips in a season while at Iowa State; playing in the NBA was going to require something closer to 100 flights. And the drugs he took to calm his fears affected his energy in games and practices.
“It’s been painted as me wanting special treatment because of anxiety,” White says. “No, I’m saying I need the same type of support as anyone who is struggling. Call it whatever the hell you want to call it. There are specific injury doctors for players” with bum knees and sprained ankles.
White says when he requested an individual doctor, NBA officials told him if they made an accommodation for him, they’d have to do it for 450 players. He played in three NBA games — zero points for the Sacramento Kings — as he bounced around the NBA and its developmental league for several seasons.
Kathy Behrens, NBA president of social responsibility and player programs, offers no comment on White’s case specifically, other than to say the league has “great respect for Royce speaking about his struggles.” She says the NBA is not new to the issue but has “a growing understanding of the importance of the subject.” She says players currently have access to mental health professionals through the player assistance program.
Last season White played for the London (Ontario) Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada, where he is the reigning league MVP and the Lightning are the reigning champion. His last affiliation with the NBA was the Los Angeles Clippers’ Summer League team in 2015.
“This isn’t just about me in the NBA,” White says. “You hear all the time about mental health stigma and people being ashamed. Well, there are people across the country who need help, say they need help and aren’t getting it. We should be talking about them, too.”