Brandon Roy

Roy during the 2006 NBA draft

Roy's NBA debut was in his hometown against the Seattle SuperSonics.[23] He scored 20 points in that game, and 19 in the following game.[24] An impingement in his left heel kept him out of 20 games early in the season, but he scored his first career double-double shortly after his return, on December 22, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors.[24] At the end of January 2007, Roy led all NBA rookies with 14.5 points per game. He became the fourth Trail Blazer to be selected for the rookie squad of the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge since its inception in 1994. He was the first Trail Blazer to participate in the All-Star Weekend since Rasheed Wallace's selection as an All-Star reserve in 2001.[25]

He was the Western Conference's Rookie of the Month in January, February, and March 2007.[24] After averaging 16.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game during the 2006–07 NBA season, Roy was named NBA Rookie of the Year. He received 127 out of 128 first-place votes.[24] Due to injury, he played in only 57 games in that season, the second-fewest games for a Rookie of the Year.[24] He was the third Trail Blazer to win the award, the first two being Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks.[24]

Roy warming up before a game

Roy started in the first 48 games of the 2007–08 season, averaging 19.1 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds. He also led the Blazers to a 13-game winning streak in the month of December. Roy was selected as a reserve for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. He scored 18 points in that game, and also had 9 rebounds. He injured his right ankle in the final game before the All-Star Weekend. Although he earned accolades for his play over the weekend, the injury impacted his play in the following weeks.[26] He played in the Rookie Challenge for the second time, this time as a "sophomore"; teammate LaMarcus Aldridge was also on the sophomore squad.[27] Roy played about 29 minutes in the All-Star game, the most of any Western Conference player. He also tied Chris Paul and Amar'e Stoudemire for the most points with 18.[28]

In the 2008 preseason, Roy underwent a 20-minute medical procedure in Vancouver, Washington, during which team physician Don Roberts removed a piece of cartilage that was causing irritation in Roy's left knee. Roy missed several weeks of action because of the rehabilitation, but was ready on the opening day of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers.[29] On November 6, against the Houston Rockets, Roy hit a game-winning 30-foot jumper in overtime with eight tenths of a second left.[30] On December 18, Roy scored a career-high 52 points against the Phoenix Suns. He made 14 of 27 shots from the field, 19 of 21 from the free-throw line, and 5 of 7 from the three-point line. He also added six assists, five rebounds and a blocked shot, all without a turnover.[31] On January 24, Roy tied a Blazers franchise record with 10 steals against the Washington Wizards.[32] On February 8 with the Blazers trailing by 1 against the Knicks, Roy made a layup at the buzzer to win it 109–108.[33] As of February 16, 2009, Roy has had 24 shots which tied or won the games with 35 seconds or less. Roy was again selected as a reserve in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, where he scored 14 points in 7-for-8 shooting, grabbed 5 boards, and dished out 5 assists in a game-high 31 minutes of action. On April 13, Roy was named Western Conference Player of the Week, the fourth time he has won the award. Roy and Clyde Drexler are the only Portland Trail Blazers to win the award four times.[34] Roy finished 9th in MVP voting for the 2008–09 season, garnering one 4th-place vote and four 5th-place votes for a total of 7 points.[35] Roy was named to the All-NBA Second Team on May 13, and was the first Blazer to make an All-NBA team since the 1991–92 season.[36]

Roy defending DeShawn Stevenson in a game

On August 5, 2009, it was confirmed that Roy had agreed to a four-year maximum-salary contract with a fifth-year player option, keeping him a Trail Blazer until at least the 2013–14 season.[37]

Roy was selected to compete in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, marking his third selection as an NBA All-Star. However, Roy was sidelined because of a right hamstring injury he sustained on January 13 against the Milwaukee Bucks, and re-aggravated on January 20 against the Philadelphia 76ers.[10]

On April 11, 2010, Roy injured his right knee. Magnetic resonance imaging that night confirmed a right knee bone contusion (bone bruise) and on April 12, further examination of the MRI showed a slight meniscus tear. Roy underwent surgery on April 16 and was expected to miss at least the first round of the 2010 NBA playoffs, but returned for Game 4 after eight days of recovery time to lead the Blazers to a win.[38][39]

Roy was named to the All-NBA Third Team on May 6, and this was his second season in a row to be named to an All-NBA Team.[40] Before the next season began, conference rival Kobe Bryant called Roy the hardest player to guard in the West, claiming that he had "no weaknesses in his game."[41]

Roy started the first month of the season scoring at his normal rate, but by December it started showing that his knees, which have bothered him since college and were injured in April, were ailing due to lack of cartilage. He missed nine games before the Trail Blazers announced that he would be out indefinitely.[42] It was widely speculated that Roy would not be able to play at an All-Star level again. This forced the team to start running its offense through forward LaMarcus Aldridge and backup guard Wesley Matthews.

Roy with his Portland teammates

On January 17, 2011, Roy underwent arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees.[43] He returned to the lineup on February 25, scoring 18 points off the bench, including a clutch three-pointer to force overtime, and helping the Blazers win the game 107–106.[44] Roy then took on a reserve role for the rest of the season, scoring inconsistently to finish with a career-low season average of 12.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 28 minutes in 47 games.

The Blazers then faced the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2011 NBA playoffs. Roy shot 1-for-8 the first 2 games, including a Game 2 where he saw only 8 minutes of playing time and went scoreless. The Blazers lost both games and trailed 0–2 in the series. He expressed his frustration about being the last substitution during the first 2 quarters, and playing for 8 minutes after getting 26 minutes in Game 1.[45] The series then went to Portland, and Roy scored 16 points in 23 minutes off the bench to boost the Blazers to a 97–92 Game 3 win.

Both the Blazers and Mavericks started Game 4 with a quiet first half, with Dallas leading slightly. The Blazers then missed their first 15 shots after halftime as the Mavs' lead grew as big as 67–44. Roy then made a three-pointer near the end of the third to cut the lead to 67–49. In the fourth quarter, Roy scored 18 points after going 1-for-3 the previous 3 quarters, including a clutch 4-point play to tie the game and a bank shot from the middle of the paint with 49 seconds left to give his team the lead for good, finishing with 24 points to lead the Blazers to an improbable 84–82 win to tie the series.[46] The Blazers would go on to lose the series in 6 games, but it gave hope for Roy to start again next season.

Just before NBA training camp opened following the resolution of the 2011 NBA lockout, Roy announced that his knees had degenerated so much—he lacked cartilage between the bones of both knees—that he was retiring from basketball.[4][5]

Following his announcement of retirement, the Portland Trail Blazers used their amnesty clause on Roy for salary cap flexibility.[47]

In June 2012, Roy announced that he was planning to make a comeback to the NBA. He said he had recovered enough to play after having the platelet-rich plasma procedure that Kobe Bryant has also had to keep his knees healthy.[48][49] He could not play for Portland under the current NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement because of Portland's amnesty of him in 2011. Roy entered the free agent market on July 1, 2012. Roy reportedly had expressed interest in signing with the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, or Chicago Bulls.[50]

On July 31, 2012, Roy signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[51] The deal put Roy with All-Star forward Kevin Love and point guard Ricky Rubio. He decided to wear No. 3, the number he wore during his college years at Washington. He felt well during training camp but suffered an injury after a collision during a preseason game on October 26, 2012. He played in five regular season games before needing season-ending surgery on his right knee.[52] He averaged 5.8 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, and 4.6 assists per game in 24.4 minutes during the 2012–13 season. Roy was waived by Minnesota on May 10, 2013.[53] Afterwards, he said, "Any time you walk away from the game, you have 'what-ifs'. I feel like I was able to answer those questions last year by going out there and giving it a try."[54]