Former All-Star and Trail Blazer Brandon Roy told EuroBasket today in an interview he wants to “leave the window open to returning to basketball.”
This comes about 10 weeks after Portland used its amnesty clause to allow Roy to retire in December after five years and three All-Star appearances. He was left, however, with knee pain that kept him seemingly unable to play.
After his interview, the keyword appears to be unable, not unwilling. In his comments, he says he’s working out slowly in Seattle and that keeping up with good friend and fellow Seattle native Jamal Crawford – whose roster spot was opened up by Roy’s retirement – has stoked the fire to play again.
“It’s hard being away from the game. Don’t be surprised if you see Brandon Roy make his way back to the court.”
Then there’s this nugget, that possibly the decision to retire wasn’t 100 percent his, nor totally because of his health.
According to sources close to the player, regardless of his knee problems, Roy’s decision to retire wasn’t all health related. “There’s something to it, but it’s not the right time for me to get into it right now,” Roy said. “I’ve been doing some treatment and I’m trying to leave the window open to returning to basketball.”
Doctors told him he might not be able to walk again, according to an Oregonian report in early December. The Oregonian‘s Jason Quick met with Roy later that week and wrote about his decision to step away. He said then:
“The more I would try to prepare to have this big comeback year, the worse my knees would continue to feel,” Roy said Thursday in his first public comments since July. “As we approached training camp, there was clicking in there, there was something in there really bothering me, and I was starting to feel like I would have to have another (surgery) just to help me get by day-to-day.”
He seems to be letting on he’s better than day-to-day. Without knowing how much of his retirement was his choosing or owner Paul Allen‘s, this opens up a wound for Portland. The Rose City fans are known league-wide as some of the most loyal toward its former heroes. Brandon Roy sits at the top of that list, even in his short time as a Blazer.
But the city has also been saddled with a self-defense mechanism after Greg Oden didn’t turn out right. They want to know things are done in the team offices with utmost care. New York? The Bobcats? We’re not that franchise. The implication he was forced out wouldn’t seem to sit right with Blazer fans as I know them, even if it was (at the time) the smart money decision.
If he comes back, and for another team, that could make Oden’s saga look downright easy for Portland’s fans to endure.
Where could you see Brandon Roy playing?
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