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- Jan 5, 2003
First of all, let's have a real talk about this. No "TL;DR" garbage. You knew coming into this thread that you were coming into a serious conversation.
Here is the article. It's long.
This article single-handedly changed my take on Royce.
I have suffered with general anxiety and have taken prescribed medication for the last six years. I know EXACTLY what he is going through. It's hard for me to board planes, not like "ooh I'm a little nervous" hard, but sweating/chest-tightening/nauseous hard. Physically challenging. In high school, I used to throw up before band class because I was going into a room with 100 people in a tight space. It's a real thing, and I know what it is all too well.
That said, I feel the best I have in years right now. I take Prozac, and I am fine when I go to Wolves games. I am fine traveling now unless it's something big like an international flight. I tried about four different medications and found the right one and the right dosage. For that I feel very lucky.
Royce, you aren't the first one to go through this. The rest of us have had to go through therapy and medication in order to live our lives. We can't just stop showing up to work. I've made excuses for years and lied and lied to cover up my odd behavior or symptoms, but in the end, I've had to use my therapy and training to cope. And guess what? I made it through it. I am stronger mentally now. I improved myself. I still have work to do, but I feel good — thanks to my own efforts.
This was the most unreasonable paragraph:
He is not the first NBA player to suffer from anxiety disorder, nor will he be the last. SOMEHOW, the ones before him found ways to cope.
Either they adapted, or they left the league. He is not special, he is just the latest athlete that might retire because of a health condition. Look at Dajuan Wagner (ulcerative colitis) or Magic Johnson (HIV). Look at every athlete ever that retired because of bad knees, ankles or backs. Do they have a god-given right to play NBA basketball? Should we let them play in a wheelchair?
NO.
The NBA is for the most fit athletes available, Royce. You can adapt. You can get better, and when you do, there will almost certainly be a try out waiting for you. But the league and the world can't halt their operations to make other-worldly exceptions for you. I don't like the bus, but I take it to work every day. Should I get my employer to have a limo pick me up each day? It's unreasonable.
The Rockets have shown incredible flexibility to this point, allowing him a lot of leeway and breathing room. They have given him their money, time, patience, and drafted him 16th overall. At this point, he owes them.
As of this article, I am not on Royce's side anymore. And I am one of his self-proclaimed "#AnxietyTroopers"...
Here is the article. It's long.
This article single-handedly changed my take on Royce.
I have suffered with general anxiety and have taken prescribed medication for the last six years. I know EXACTLY what he is going through. It's hard for me to board planes, not like "ooh I'm a little nervous" hard, but sweating/chest-tightening/nauseous hard. Physically challenging. In high school, I used to throw up before band class because I was going into a room with 100 people in a tight space. It's a real thing, and I know what it is all too well.
That said, I feel the best I have in years right now. I take Prozac, and I am fine when I go to Wolves games. I am fine traveling now unless it's something big like an international flight. I tried about four different medications and found the right one and the right dosage. For that I feel very lucky.
Royce, you aren't the first one to go through this. The rest of us have had to go through therapy and medication in order to live our lives. We can't just stop showing up to work. I've made excuses for years and lied and lied to cover up my odd behavior or symptoms, but in the end, I've had to use my therapy and training to cope. And guess what? I made it through it. I am stronger mentally now. I improved myself. I still have work to do, but I feel good — thanks to my own efforts.
This was the most unreasonable paragraph:
The crux of White's demand to the Rockets is that he needs his own personal doctor to decide whether he's in the right mental frame of mind to play a game or attend practice. That seems reasonable — until you consider what would happen if all 400-plus players in the NBA made the same request (for both mental and physical ailments). It would reinvent the power dynamic, effectively allowing players to dictate when they were healthy enough to participate.
But White doesn't see it like that.
Except that he does.
"My request was to have an addendum to my contract," he begins. "Now, would that set a precedent? That's not really my thing. I asked for something to be put into my contract. Not something for all players to use."
But White doesn't see it like that.
Except that he does.
"My request was to have an addendum to my contract," he begins. "Now, would that set a precedent? That's not really my thing. I asked for something to be put into my contract. Not something for all players to use."
He is not the first NBA player to suffer from anxiety disorder, nor will he be the last. SOMEHOW, the ones before him found ways to cope.
Either they adapted, or they left the league. He is not special, he is just the latest athlete that might retire because of a health condition. Look at Dajuan Wagner (ulcerative colitis) or Magic Johnson (HIV). Look at every athlete ever that retired because of bad knees, ankles or backs. Do they have a god-given right to play NBA basketball? Should we let them play in a wheelchair?
NO.
The NBA is for the most fit athletes available, Royce. You can adapt. You can get better, and when you do, there will almost certainly be a try out waiting for you. But the league and the world can't halt their operations to make other-worldly exceptions for you. I don't like the bus, but I take it to work every day. Should I get my employer to have a limo pick me up each day? It's unreasonable.
The Rockets have shown incredible flexibility to this point, allowing him a lot of leeway and breathing room. They have given him their money, time, patience, and drafted him 16th overall. At this point, he owes them.
As of this article, I am not on Royce's side anymore. And I am one of his self-proclaimed "#AnxietyTroopers"...
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