Brandon Roy’s Life After Basketball
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Saturday, June 20, 2015
Robby Davis, GolocalPDX Contributor
Photo via Team Brandon Roy AAU Instagram (image cropped)
Little did anyone know that back in 2006 when the Portland Trail Blazers traded the rights to Randy Foye for a kid out of the University of Washington, who was recently awarded the Pac-10 Player of the Year, they were acquiring the perfect player to lead the team out of the era of the “Jail-Blazers.”
Before the arrival of Brandon Roy the Blazers had to deal with a roster full of players who had multiple run-ins with the law. The team that the Blazers had assembled during the mid-2000’s had a history of fighting amongst themselves, obtaining DUI’s, illegally smoking marijuana, and finding themselves in the back of police cars.
There’s no doubt that this team was talented, they just couldn’t put it all together on the court.
Fortunately, during the 2006 off-season the Blazers decided to promote Kevin Pritchard to the Assistant General Manager position. During this same offseason he made one of the most famous draft day deals in Trail Blazer history. He traded Randy Foye’s draft rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves for their number six pick, Brandon Roy.
The benefits of this trade paid off immediately.
During Roy’s five years with the team he experienced plenty of success. He was a three-time NBA All-Star, two-time All NBA Selection, and the 2007 Rookie Of The Year. Roy was continually regarded as one of the best up-an-coming players in the NBA. Trail Blazer commentators commonly referred to him as, “The Natural” for the natural way he seemed to manage a basketball game.
Unfortunately, injuries began to take a toll on the Seattle native.
Due to a number of knee ailments that dated back to his college days Roy was forced to retire from the NBA at the age of 28. It was later discovered that Roy suffered from degenerative knees, an ongoing issue that would provide additional problems in the future if he were to continue with his NBA career. Roy made the tough decision to call it a career after the 2012-2013 season.
Since his retirement from the NBA Roy has found another way to stay involved with the game that has brought him plenty of success.
In 2009, he and his good friend, Marvin Hall, established a faith-based Amateur Athletic Union youth basketball program in his hometown of Seattle, Washington. They named this program Team Brandon Roy. Since being founded Team Brandon Roy has been recognized as one of the premier youth basketball and development program in the Northwest. They have also has emerged as one of the Top AAU Basketball programs in the country. In 2013 they ranked #4 in the Nation, and #1 on the West Coast.
On staff they currently have Pro-WNBA players, former Semi-Pro and NCAA College Basketball players and award-winning local high-school coaches. The staff works diligently in order develop and guide every athlete that walks onto their court.
This program also places an emphasis on achieving academic success in the classroom. One of the goals of this program is to have all of their young athletes pursue a degree of higher education at the college level.
“One of our goals is for all of these kids to attend college once they graduate high school,” said Marvin Hall, a coach for Team Brandon Roy. “Right now we have a few kids who have received scholarship offers to play at the next level in college. We really want these kids to realize their full potential.”
Another underlying value that has been engrained within this program is to honor God in all aspects of life. Roy and Hall want everyone who is a part of their program to understand that you can honor God through the pursuit of athletics and moral excellence.
It’s apparent that Roy not only wants this program to provide elite coaching for youth, but he also wants them to understand that life is bigger than the game of basketball. That is why this program not only focuses on basketball skills, but also the development of character and integrity.
Even with his basketball career over Roy is still finding ways to positively influence the basketball community in the Pacific Northwest.
Related Slideshow: Oregon’s Most Devastating Sports Injuries
Here is GoLocalPDX's list of Oregon's most devastating injuries that have occured within the past 10 years.
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Greg Oden
Sept. 2007 — Micro fracture surgery on right knee
Dec. 2009 — Fractured left patella
Nov. 2010 — Micro fracture surgery on left knee
Dec. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on right knee
Unfortunately, Trail Blazer fans everywhere already know how drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant worked out for their team. After being be the #1 selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Oden was never able to play a full season due to ongoing knee injuries. The team eventually waived him in March of 2012.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Dennis Dixon
Nov. 2007 — Torn left ACL
During the 2007 season Dixon had the Oregon Ducks as the #2 team in the country. That was until he suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State and attempted to play on it the following week against Arizona. After Dixon went down for the season the Ducks lost their remaining two regular season games. Fortunately, they were able to end their season on a high note with a victory over South Florida in the 2007 Sun Bowl.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Brandon Roy
Sept. 2008 — Cartilage removed from left knee
April 2010 — Meniscus tear in right knee
Jan. 2011 — Arthroscopic surgery on both knees
Brandon Roy is perhaps one of the most beloved Trail Blazers in the history of the franchise. After being drafted in 2006, and leading the team out of the "Jail-Blazer" era, he had to make the tough decision to retire at the young age of 28. His degenerative knees prevented Rip City from seeing their superstar ever play to his full potential.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Jacquizz Rodgers
Nov. 2008 — Grade II separation of the acromioclavicular joint
During the second to last game in 2008 Jacquizz Rodgers suffered a separated shoulder that ended his season. Unfortunately, this meant that he wasn't able to play in the Civil War, which was perhaps the biggest game of the year for the Beavers. If the Beavers had been able to defeat the Ducks they would've been able to book their tickets to play in the Rose Bowl. Instead, they went to the Sun Bowl where they defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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James Rodgers
Oct. 2009 — Torn left ACL
After participating in only 4 games during the 2009 season Rodgers went down with a torn ACL while playing against #9 Arizona. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Rodgers considering he was expected to have a breakout season. Rodgers, who was a senior at the time, was able to end his career at Oregon State as the career leader in all-purpose yards.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Joel Pryzbilla
Dec. 2009 — Ruptured right patella tendon and dislocated patella
In December of 2009 the Trail Blazers' backup center, Joel Pryzbilla, was lost for the season with a ruptured and dislocated patella. This was a huge blow to the Trailblazers' frontcourt because they had already lost Oden for the season a few weeks before. Pryzbilla was also the team's defensive anchor who provided an inside presence. "The Vanilla Gorilla" was sorely missed for the rest of the year.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropepd)
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LaMichael James
Oct. 2011 — Dislocated right elbow
The 2011 season couldn't have started any better for LaMichael James. After the first game James became Oregon's career rushing leader, surpassing Derek Loville. During the second game he rushed for over 200 yards against Missouri State. Unfortunately, James' year was slowed by a dislocated elbow suffered against Cal. Luckily for Duck fans he was able to return to end the season.
Photo via Facebook (image cropped)
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Nate Costa
Nov. 2010 —Torn Right ACL
After suffering a multitude of knee injuries throughout his career at Oregon Costa was forced to officially retire from football after tearing his ACL for the third time in agame against Washington. Although Costa's career was hobbled by injuries many of his teammates looked to him as their leader. Oregon's coaching staff referred to Costa as the "heart and soul" of the 2010 team that won the Rose Bowl.
Photo via Addictedtoquack (image cropped)
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Sean Mannion
Oct. 2012 — Torn Left Meniscus
During the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, Sean Mannion was enjoying one of his best as a Beaver. Unfortunately, he tore his left meniscus against Washington State that resulted in him missing around half the season. With Mannion leading the way the Beavers had the Pac-12's fourth rated offense, averaging 459.5 yeards per game. With Mannion sidelined Cody Vaz became the starting quarterback
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Marcus Mariota
Oct. 2013 — Partial MCL Tear
Marcus Mariota is widely regarded as one of the greatest Oregon Duck quarterbacks to ever play at Autzen. Unfortunately a knee injury hobbled his sophomore season. After Mariota suffered a partial MCL tear against UCLA he conintued to play the remainder of the season. With Mariota's knee not allowing him to be as mobile as he was accustomed to teams were able to take advantage. In the weeks following the injury the Ducks suffered losses to Stanford and Arizona. Duck fans everywhere would like to know what that season woud've loked like if Mariota had stayed healthy.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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CJ McCollum
Oct. 2013 — Broken fifth Metatarsal In Left Foot
After being taken 10th overall during the 2013 NBA Draft the shooting guard out of Lehigh wasn't able to start his career the way many had hoped. After breaking the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot the rookie wasn't able to take the court until January of 2014. Before the injury McCollum was in consideration for playing time behind Lillard.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Alex Morgan
Oct. 2013 — Stress reaction in talus bone
During the 2013 season Morgan suffered an injury that doctors misdiagnosed as a mildly sprained ankle. After a few additional tests were performed it turned out that Morgan had suffered a far more serious injury. She actually suffered a stress reaction in the talus bone that put her immediate future with Team USA in question. After rehabbing for 7 months Morgan was able to make a full recovery.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Bralon Addison
April 2014 — Torn left ACL
After exceeding expectations as a freshman and sophomore at the University of Oregon Addison was expecting big things from his junior year. Unfortunately, Addison suffered a torn ACL during last year's spring practice that kept him sidelined the entire year. Without Addison in the lineup the receiving core never lived up to their full potential. If he had been able to play this season the National Championship may have wielded a different outcome.
Photo via Facebook (image cropped)
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Ifo Ekpre-Olomu
Dec. 2014 — Torn ACL
In preparation for the first ever college football playoffs Ekpre-Olomu ended up tearing his ACL during a routine practice. This was a huge blow to the Ducks considering Ekpre-Olomu was one of the team's better defenders. He was also one of the best corners in the country who many analysists expected to be selected as high as the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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Wesley Matthews
March 2015 — Torn left achilles
Just 2 months before Matthews suffered a torn achilles he had become the Trailblazers' all-time leader in 3-point field goals made. It looked as though the Trailblazers were poised to make a deep playoff run. Things took a drastic turn when Matthews was lost for the season. With the team in a 0-2 hole against the Memphis Grizzlies it doesn't look as though they will be making it to the second round of the playoffs this year.
Photo via Wikipedia (image cropped)
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