Royce White Struggles against Texas Legends in NBA D-League

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers played back-to-back games against the Texas Legends at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas on Friday and Saturday. Royce White saw some action in both games for the Vipers, but the production simply wasn’t there for last year’s first round draft pick in the NBA D-League.

It might be longer than we thought before Royce White sees action like this in the NBA again. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

On Friday night, White saw 20:23 minutes of action and went just 1-8 from the field and hit 1-6 from the free throw line. He finished with three points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Not only were the shots not going in, but he was careless with the ball turning it over five times. The Legends blew them out 119-91 thanks to cleaning up the boards on defense and winning the rebounding margin 54-35

White received a big reduction in minutes the next night, only playing 7:28 of the game and scoring zero points and missing both shot attempts from the field. He did not have any free throw attempts. While better with his ball handling only turning it over once and recording two assists and two rebounds, the Vipers lost again 115-110 after leading through three quarters.

It’s pretty clear that a long journey is ahead for White. Any expectations of joining the Houston Rockets soon for a potential playoff run late in the season should be lowered. Perhaps the former forward from Iowa State will be able to get back into his playing form through the rest of this season and get his chance with the Rockets next season.

The Vipers are in action again this Friday and Saturday with back-to-back games at Santa Cruz.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Clones Confidential. Get more Cyclones coverage by following us on Twitter and Facebook.