Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers (phot by Rupak Anto, via Flickr).
“You take the blue pill… the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want. You take the red pill… you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” – Morpheus from the Matrix. In our second red pill installment, we ask, What if knee injuries didn’t kill the career of Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy?
Drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft, nobody would have guessed how outstanding Brandon Roy was by the end of his four-year rookie contract. Roy was the 2006-07 Rookie of the Year, followed by three straight All-Star appearances and two All-NBA selections.
If not for a torn meniscus in Game 80 of the 2009-10 season, a 91-88 win over the arch-rival Los Angeles Lakers, we might still be watching the man who I think would have possibly become the best Portland Trail Blazers player ever. Roy tried to come back from the injury but never looked the same again. But during those first four years, Roy exceeded all expectations. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.6 boards, and 5.0 assists per game.
Nicknamed “The Natural,” Roy entered the NBA as a 6′ 6″ shooting guard. The original clutch performer, he did the job years before Damian Lillard arrived in Rip City. He wasn’t just a late-game sniper either; Roy was someone the team rallied around all game. A true leader who showed his chops early.
In his rookie season, Roy challenged veteran Zach Randolph in a post-game situation. After a loss, Randolph was berating the team, but Roy stuck up for his teammates. He pointed out that the team loses together and wins together and that Zach himself wasn’t above criticism.
This moment might have been the true shift from the Jail Blazers era to a new era with new leadership in the locker room. The Blazers’ new culture focused on unity and effort. An unselfish player, Roy would often start games slow, attempting to get other players involved. If that plan wasn’t working, you’d gradually begin to see Brandon take over games on offense.
Metta World Peace (Ron Artest at the time) called Roy the toughest player in the league to defend. Kobe Bryant once said Roy was the hardest player to guard 365 days a year.
Roy would finish his career with an 8-5 record against Kobe and the Lakers, quite the accomplishment during those days.
One aspect that gets forgotten about Brandon Roy was what an intense competitor he was. If it was the fourth quarter, he would often demand to guard the opposing teams’ best player. Whether it was the larger Lebron James or Carmelo Anthony, or smaller Chris Paul, Roy wanted the toughest assignment.
More often than not, he had success. His late-game block on Carmelo at the end of the 2009 Christmas game is a great example. I remember watching him lock up Dwayne Wade at the end of a Portland win. Same with Roy shutting down a prime Joe Johnson. Roy didn’t do as well against Lebron as he did against others, but I respected his effort.
After the injury, his deteriorating knees led to a drop-off in his defense. But for a few years, Portland had a player who rivaled the league’s top stars and didn’t back down on either side of the court. That was something I hadn’t seen from a Portland Trail Blazers star since Clyde Drexler. The main difference between Clyde and Roy was Clyde’s athleticism and Roy’s ability in the clutch.
That is a tricky question because Roy’s injury came in a similar timeframe as Greg Oden‘s career-ending injury. Even without Oden, Roy made the team special. Players wanted to come to Portland. Chris Paul publicly voiced his appreciation and respect for Brandon and how he’d like to play with him someday.
The Blazers had a star who not only held his own against the league’s best but also earned their respect. In addition, he helped nurture a positive team culture. Then throw in some young stars like LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, and it’s a recipe for bringing in other stars.
I think more championships would have eventually happened with a healthy Roy leading the team. Whether via trade or free agency, I think the team roster would have improved, and the Portland Trail Blazers would have been contenders for the vast part of Roys’ career.
If you threw him on those early 90’s finals teams or those late 90’s Rasheed Wallace teams, Rip City fans would have seen a few more Blazers NBA titles as both of those teams’ biggest weaknesses was their playmaking ability in the clutch. A skill Roy possessed on an unreal level.
There is no reason to think a further developed Aldridge along with talent consolidation wouldn’t have put Roy in a similar situation in the 2010s. There is a butterfly effect to all of it, but who is to say Portland wouldn’t have still ended up going after Damian Lillard in 2012?
Blazers fans talk about how crazy good Lillard is in the clutch; they’re right to call him the most clutch Blazers player of all time. Lillard is also in his tenth pro season, whereas Roy had what I consider his career-ending injury at the end of his fourth.
Roy came back a shell of himself for parts of his fifth season. He gave Rip City one last great Roy memory with his 18-point fourth-quarter playoff comeback against the Dallas Mavericks. That’s where Roy’s NBA story ends, and the Portland Trail Blazers “What Ifs” begin.
It can be depressing but also somewhat entertaining to let your mind wander to what could have happened in Rip City if Roy didn’t get hurt. Despite the team I love and root for not yet winning a championship in my lifetime, I also have to admit that from the 2006 draft to today, there has only been one Portland Trail Blazers season (2011-12) where there wasn’t a player on the team that absolutely made end game situations riveting and exciting for fans.
I can’t tell you how many times I jumped around with joy after watching the Blazers squeak out a close game with a clutch play. All the talk of the Blazers being cursed or having bad luck (and there has been a lot of it), I feel pretty lucky to have had the chance to watch and root for both Brandon Roy and Damian Lillard over these last 15 years.
What do you think? Would the Portland Trail Blazers have won another NBA Championship or even more than one of them? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.