Former NBA Player Royce White is now taking on MMA.
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00:00 Royce White is going from the court to the octagon.
00:05 And for more in today's Daily Cover, I'm joined by John Wertheim.
00:08 John, you know, Royce says that he was blackballed from the NBA for speaking out in his mental
00:13 health advocacy.
00:14 It's a league that gets a lot of credit for mental health awareness.
00:18 Where's the disconnect from his end?
00:19 Yeah, I mean, I think part of the disconnect is he just turned 30 years old this week and
00:24 hasn't played in years.
00:26 And his NBA career lasted a sum total of about six games.
00:29 This is a guy who was picked number 16 in the draft.
00:33 But I think you're right.
00:34 I mean, I think history will remember Royce White very fondly.
00:38 And I think we've come a long way in a very short amount of time about understanding not
00:42 only mental health, but also the intersection between sports and mental health.
00:46 So he clearly is still to some extent embittered about his experience with the NBA.
00:51 I would say to some extent not justified.
00:54 But I do think that in a very short amount of time, perception of Royce White has become
00:58 something very different.
00:59 And I think in terms of mental health, someone mentioned the piece in the story, and I don't
01:03 think it's hyperbole.
01:04 I don't think it's an exaggeration at all.
01:06 I think he is a Kurt Flood type figure who really will go down as a transformative figure.
01:12 Now, when it comes to his next chapter, it takes a lot of mental toughness as well as
01:16 physical toughness to get into the octagon.
01:19 What's his game plan there?
01:21 It's a good question.
01:22 And I think sort of the casual fan will say, well, wait a second, this guy had some anxiety
01:27 issues.
01:28 He's got more anxiety creating than cage fighting, than going in and fighting in MMA where you
01:33 have the potential for so much serious physical damage.
01:37 He's quick to dispel that and say that's really not what anxiety is about.
01:41 I mean, this is a world class athlete.
01:44 Nobody would dispute that.
01:45 And he's 30 years old, but does not have a lot of mileage on the tires.
01:49 This is not someone who has played a lot, competed a lot in the last five, six, seven
01:53 years.
01:54 And he is learning MMA.
01:55 I mean, obviously there is a lot of disciplines that you need to study.
01:59 He is late to the party.
02:00 But I think part of the game plan is this guy not only is just such a great natural
02:04 athlete, not only at 6'8", 6'9" is going to create some size and reach matchups, but also
02:10 he knows what it means to train.
02:12 He knows what it means to ration energy.
02:14 I mean, the fact that he has this, not only this elite athlete body, but also having had
02:18 the status as an elite athlete is something he thinks is going to really carry over well
02:21 to a very, very different sport from basketball.
02:25 You brought up the word anxiety.
02:27 It's anxious times for a lot of us.
02:28 How did he explain that anxiety to you?
02:32 He is extraordinarily well-spoken, well-read.
02:35 I mean, this is really a fascinating character.
02:39 He's been very outspoken recently on social media about how anxiety issues are compounded,
02:43 obviously, with this crisis.
02:46 I mean, I guess the best thing I can do is point you to, there was a Grantland short
02:49 video, right before he was about to come out to the draft, and he let the cameras roll
02:53 while he basically had a panic attack.
02:56 You go back and watch that, and it's hard not to come away with a heightened sense of
02:59 what this must be like.
03:01 But I mean, again, he is a fascinating, fascinating character.
03:05 It's not just a question of sort of an agile mind, but he likes to confront and challenge
03:10 and discussions become debates, and he's very logical and very sharp.
03:15 And I think he's been very good at articulating what he goes through and what sort of the
03:19 common misconceptions are.
03:21 It'll be interesting to see his next chapter, but you can read about what he's doing now
03:24 in the Daily Cover.
03:26 Thanks to John Wertheim.
03:27 John, appreciate your time, as always.
03:28 Anytime.
03:29 Thanks, Robin.
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