Brandon Roy retires from the Blazers at 27 years old

By Kshell

The shocking news today rocked the Portland Trail Blazers as former NBA all-star Brandon Roy has suddenly announced his retirement. Roy who has won the rookie of the year award and been selected to three NBA all-star games will be forced to retire due to his bad knees. The former University of Washington star helped changed the Blazers from a floundering franchise into a team that returned to the playoffs in 2009 when they won 54 games. Now just three seasons later Roy will no longer be playing for the Blazers. At the age of 27 Roy was supposed to be entering his prime years for this franchise instead he is retiring which is a major blow to the Blazers.

When Roy first came to the Blazers they had missed the playoffs three straight seasons after setting an NBA record for making the playoffs 21 straight seasons and 26 of 27 seasons. Roy was acquired on draft day trade which was a terrific move for the Blazers franchise. Nate McMillan was entering his second season as the Blazers were a struggling franchise. During Roy's first season in Portland along with Lamarcus Aldridge the Blazers appeared to have erased the "jail blazers" image they had. Roy won the rookie of the year when he averaged 16.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 4.0 APG. He shot 45.6% from the field while making almost a full three pointer a game. The following season saw Roy make the all-star team where he led the Western Conference in scoring that game scoring 18 points on 8-10 shooting while pulling down nine rebounds with five assists.

During Roy's third season the Blazers finally returned to the playoffs as Roy made his second straight all-star team. During the 2008-09 season Roy averaged 22.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 5.1 APG. He shot 48.0% from the field, made a little over a three pointer a game shooting 37.7% while making 82.4% of his free throws. In the playoffs against the Houston Rockets the Blazers lost in six games but it wasn't Roy's fault as he had a terrific series. During that six game loss Roy averaged 26.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 2.8 APG. He also shot 45.9% from the field, 87.0% from free throws and 47.1% from three point range. Roy was rewarded with a 7 year 84 million dollar deal after that season. Roy was going to turn 25 years old that offseason as the future appeared bright for him and the Blazers franchise which featured other young stars like Aldridge and Greg Oden. Little did anyone know that was the peak of the Brandon Roy run in Portland.

The following season the Blazers had great expectations then Greg Oden went down early playing only 20 games(still hasn't played since). Roy was enjoying another all-star season until he injured one of his knee's forcing him to miss the final 17 games of the season. Roy then missed the Blazers first three playoff games against the Phoenix Suns. As the Blazers trailed the Suns 2-1 in the series they pressed the panic button deciding to play Roy. Roy provided great inspiration as the Blazers beat the Suns in game four to even the series at two games apiece. The Suns would eliminate the Blazers in six games that year as Roy probably should have sat out that series.

The next season Roy continued to get injured playing in only 47 games most of which saw him come off the bench. Roy in the playoffs struggled in the playoff series loss to the Mavericks in six games. Although Roy did provide some moments scoring 16 points in a game three win. Then in the fourth quarter Roy led a huge comeback for the Blazers scoring 24 points as the Blazers overcame a 23 point deficit. Little did anyone know that would be the last great moment Roy would provide the Blazers as the eventual world champion Mavericks defeated the Blazers in six games. Now Portland is probably regretting pushing Roy out there in the 2010 playoff loss to the Suns as his career has been cut well short.

In conclusion, I've been a fan of Roy's since his days at Washington. I remember during his junior year the Huskies were the #1 seed and he was coming off the bench telling my friends that the best player on the team doesn't even start. I remember arguing with my friends how Roy is better than Adam Morrison of Gonzaga. I also recall when he went to Portland and it appeared the Sonics were leaving town I adopted the Blazers. It was an easy adoption as I lived 50 miles from Portland and their best player was my favorite player in Roy. Not to mention their head coach Nate McMillan was Mr. Sonic. Roy like the Blazers had such a bright future ahead of themselves in 2009 and now just two seasons later it appears all for nothing.

Now Roy is retired while the Blazers franchise has hit a major wall. Aldridge is a fine player but he isn't the best player on a championship team. Also bad  news for Blazer fans continue as it appears Greg Oden might miss yet another full season. Roy is one of the good guys of the NBA who is a hard worker and never hear about in the offseason. This wasn't supposed to happen to a player like him. The Blazers a franchise who has passed on Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant appear to be a snake bitten franchise who just simply can't buy a break. What appeared to be such a bright future for the Blazers and Roy has turned into a nightmare scenario. This doesn't even feel like reality this is simply a sad day for fans of the Blazers, Huskies and Garfield High School community who will never get to enjoy watching the greatness of Brandon Roy again.