BIG TIME Brandon!
With today’s generation of athletes many people have a sour taste in their mouths.
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Today’s athlete is seen as greedy, arrogent and a guy you simply don’t want to root for. Then there is former Portland Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy who is none of those things. In fact Roy is the type of player you do root for.
The type of guy you hope to turn out to be, the guy your son turns into and the guy who marries your daughter.
Which is why the news of Roy’s retirement after just five seasons in the NBA is so sad.
Roy, who is my favorite Washington Huskies player of all-time and Blazers player ever as well, is forced into retirement due to having no cartilage left in his knees.
Roy is a local hero as both fans of Seattle and Portland sports can agree on one thing which is the greatness of Brandon Roy.
Roy began his career starring at Garfield High School where he was teammates with former Huskies Will Conroy, Tre Simmons, Anthony Washington and Isiah Stanback.
He moved onto to the university of Washington where he turned down such powerhouse programs as Arizona Wildcats.
Roy is a local hero as both fans of Seattle and Portland sports can agree on one thing which is the greatness of Brandon Roy.
When Roy came to UW it marked a change in culture as he was the first big time recruit to stay home.
While at Washington Roy quickly became the Huskies best all around player but due to him being such a great teammate he took a backseat to Nate Robinson.
Then as a junior Roy suffered his first of many knee injuries. He was supposed to miss two months instead he missed just four games returning off the bench.
Tre Simmons was enjoying a first team all pac-10 season so Roy came off the bench.
Roy was projected to be a first round pick after his junior year but chose to return.
He led Washington to another sweet 16 as he was named first team all-american as he was the Pac-10 player of the year. On draft day he was picked seventh overall then traded to Portland.
The Blazers were a franchise coming off the Jail Blazers era where Bonzi Wells basically told the fans to piss off as they don’t matter. Roy during his rookie year was rookie of the year.
Then made the all-star team the following three seasons. During his third year in the NBA he led the Blazers back to the playoffs where he averaged over 26 points per game in a playoff series loss to the Houston Rockets.
The following year Roy suffered injuries and the Blazers rushed him back too early as they lost to the Phoenix Suns in six games.
Last year was a trying year for Roy but he did score 24 points in game four as the Blazers overcame a 23 point deficit. Roy scored 21 points in the final 13 minutes of the game.
This is a sad time as Roy was one of the greats.
His jersey hangs in the UW rafters and hopefully someday will hang in the Rose Garden as well. Roy was a class act who never once complained about anything. He put UW basketball on the map where it is currently thriving.
He turned the Blazers image around to the point where when he watches the Huskies play at the Oregon Ducks he is given a standing ovation in Eugene.
Roy is an easy guy to love and is one of the last true great people who happen to be good at sports.
Brandon Roy you are going to be missed by Huskies and Blazers fans as well as fans of good people.
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