Reaction to Chuck Klosterman’s Grantland Article on Royce White

As the wave of Royce White news and stories continue on this week, Grantland had their second major feature on the superstar from Iowa State posted on Wednesday. Chuck Klosterman, contributor to Grantland and author of the feature, went into great detail about meeting with White and asking all the questions we have, such as why is he holding out this much from the Houston Rockets and being the voice of mental health on Twitter.

Oct 17, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Royce White (30) dribbles up court against the Memphis Grizzliesduring the fourth quarter at the Toyota Center. The Rockets won 109-102. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

Before reading this reaction, be sure to check out the feature on Grantland. It’s a fantastic piece that dives into everything White believes in, and focuses on both the positives and negatives of what he believes in and how it could impact his career.

On Tuesday, I gave my reaction after White and the Houston Rockets finally agreed on the right “mental health protocol” and he would join a D-League affiliate in February. Based on all the information that’s been released from holding out to then, White came off as using his mental health problems as a crutch. I would think that the Rockets had what White needed, and that his reactions on Twitter should be stopped because it was only affecting his personal image.

After reading this article, it is clear that White does not care about his image toward others. All of this is for the bigger picture: getting the world to understand that mental health issues are something nearly everybody deals with. To him, any sort of addiction is a problem, and this group of people shouldn’t be treated as a minority.

That’s completely true, everyone deals with tough moments in their life and it can affect them more or less than it would other people. And because of the high level of selfishness in most of us, we never stop to care how other people feel.

Still, here’s an excerpt that I don’t understand, when White talks about changing his contract so he can have his own doctor. It’s the contradiction that Klosterman mentions multiple times in the article.