After coming to an arrangement with the Rockets to deal with his anxiety issues. Royce White returned to practice with his teammates and will be taking a bus to road games pending league approval.
“I’m excited, it’s just a different plan than I’ve ever had going into a season, said White. So I’m happy that the Rockets are willing to work with me, and I’m excited to see what I can do under the new circumstances.”
His new coach Kevin McHale admitted Royce would have a challenging rookie season dealing with his aerophobia, but let it be known the Houston organization was behind him.
“Royce is going to have a little bit of a different path in the NBA,” McHale said. “If your choice is to have a 10-hour bus ride, or an hour flight, everyone would want to take an hour flight. He’s just going to have to work his way through all that stuff. We’re here to help him and support him as much as we can, but he eventually has to be responsible to your team and your teammates. That’s the biggest thing.”
Royce has long struggled with an anxiety disorder, but his college averages of 13.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 5 apg, 1.2 spg and 0.9 bpg kept the Rockets interested enough to select him 16th overall in the 2012 draft.
