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Royce White's basketball (and life) journey now takes him to The City of Brotherly Love. The Philadelphia 76ers (now with former Rockets' executive Sam Hinkie as General Manager) acquired White from Houston.
Through all the twists and turns of White's rookie season, there's no denying the talent level is there. In limited time with Rio Grande Valley Vipers, White played relatively well and displayed many of the tools that must've intrigued the Rockets about him in the first place.
In addition to averaging 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists, White tallied four games of 19 points or more for the Vipers. He can assert himself offensively if need be, but his versatile skill set stands to help a team in many ways, if he eventually finds his way onto an NBA hardwood.
While playing in Rio Grande Valley last season, White defended well, crashed the boards, and proved he could effectively find his teammates while running the open floor. He, undoubtedly, has unique skills for a forward.
Of course, White's anxiety disorder calls for certain provisions to be made, not only to his contract, but also in the way he is accommodated in order to properly cope with his illness and still get the most out of a potential basketball career. He wants an equal shot, but things need to happen in order for him to get that and move forward.
Perhaps Hinkie, the man who was key in drafting White last summer, also holds the keys to White's potential future success. Clearly, after leaving the Rockets and joining the 76ers, he wasn't scared off by such a situation. Instead, maybe he believes he understands it and can improve things more than Rockets did and/or could.
Either way, in an interesting turn of events, White went from tweeting about the possibility of playing alongside both Dwight Howard and James Harden, to praising Hinkie and the city of Philadelphia.
With a fresh start and perhaps a brighter outlook on his future, the case for (at the very least) being tolerable of White and his predicament has been made by our friends at Liberty Ballers.
If fans can show tolerance, understanding, and/or patience with White in Philly, who knows...maybe they'll even grow to root for him to beat the odds, too.