Back in October of 2013, the Philadelphia 76ers waived Royce White just before the start of the season rather than carry him on their all-but-talent-devoid roster. When the hammer fell, my colleague Eric Freeman suggested that the former Iowa State standout and 2012 first-round draft pick — whose professional career to that point had been more hypothetical than practical, owing to repeated disagreements with the Houston Rockets over how to address and manage his generalized anxiety disorder — might need to take a step back before he could take a step forward:

It is possible that another team will sign White (or that the Sixers will bring him back on a D-League deal), but a safer bet would be that he will have to prove himself at a lower level of competition first. […] After failing to make the roster of a team that could threaten the worst record in league history, it would seem that White’s reputation is at an all-time low. He will probably need to play in the D-League or overseas if he wants to work his way back to the best league in the world.

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White did wind up making it back to the NBA, but only briefly, working a pair of 10-day contracts with the Sacramento Kings in the spring of 2014 that produced nine total minutes, two fouls and one shot (a miss) over three games before he once again found himself on the outside of the NBA looking in. After exploratory discussions with the Denver Nuggets in 2014, a 2015 Summer League stint with the Los Angeles Clippers and a 2016 veteran minicamp invite from the New York Knicks all failed to bear fruit, White has remained outside the NBA. Now, he hasn’t set sail for the continent to rekindle his career, but he has found a foreign league a little closer to home.

The point forward who earned First Team All-Big 12 honors with the Cyclones under now-Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg has inked a deal to join the London, Ont., Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada, a 10-team league that’s been in operation since 2011. From the team’s Thursday announcement:

“We are thrilled to have Royce in London. He is going to bolster our front court. Royce had one of the best NCAA careers in the last 10 years and we are going to do everything possible to get him back into that type of shape and that type of mindset,” said head coach Kyle Julius. “We are going to use him and his skill set the same way Fred Hoiberg was able to do at Iowa State, where he was a focal point as both a perimeter player and a big man. Hopefully that will translate into wins for us and to Royce becoming a better player and playing at a higher level.”

“I’m happy to be here in London. I am excited about this community. I am appreciative of [team owner] Vito [Frijia] and him allowing me to be here. I’m excited to be in contact with people with character like Vito,” said White. “I still feel very young at 25 and I’m excited to get back to playing again. I’m glad that coach believes in me. I still feel like I have a lot of good basketball to play. I’m looking forward to getting back on the court and doing some of the same things I was able to do in college. I’m looking forward to building something special here in London, a team culture of [camaraderie], selfless basketball, having fun, winning games and enjoying it together as a team.”

As of March, White had been “putting all [his] energies and focus into my humanitarian ambitions [and] entrepreneurial ventures in my hometown of Twin Cities, Minnesota.” Those ambitions continue to include working to destigmatize mental health issues and working to address the separation between mental health and general health in workplaces and society; in May, with four doctors, he co-wrote an open letter calling on the NBA and National Basketball Players Association to take a more active stance in the “development of a comprehensive care initiative” and mental health policy that addresses mental health as an essential benefit for all players.

White’s persistent advocacy for a formal, comprehensive agreement on handling his own process was the defining characteristic of his time with the Houston Rockets, who drafted him with the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NBA draft.