Coming out of Washington as one of NCAA’s top players back then, he was one of the rare ones to play four years in times when players are jumping into the pros after their first year.
B-Roy had quite a success in college. He averaged 20.6 points in his senior year, was All-American, won the Pac 10 Player Of The Year award and led the Huskies to a 26-7 record.
He entered the draft, where he was taken as the sixth overall selection of the 2006 draft by the Wolves but was immediately traded to the Blazers.
And the move payed off for Portland. Brandon had his debut against his hometown team (Seattle) in which he dropped 20 points, and 19 the following game. He showed to be really good.
Roy quickly led all rookies in scoring with 14.5 points after he returned from injuries. He became the first Blazer to participate in the All-Star Rookie Challenge since Rasheed in ’01.
He didn’t stop there. He displayed excellent skill set, great maturity, instincts and established himself as a great player in the clutch who was never afraid of the moment.
“The Natural” averaged 16.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists en route to the Rookie Of the Year award, becoming the third player in franchise history to win the award.
Then the Trail Blazers drafted Greg Oden and added to their young core of Brandon and LaMarcus that really promised. Unfortunately the big guy (GO) got injured.
On the other hand, Roy saw steady improvement as his averages increased and he became the leader of the young team that seemed to be a future dynasty.
In his third year, he dramatically improved in all of the facets of basketball as he added a nice post up game, leadership skills and was a bigger threat in the clutch too.
That resulted with B-Roy getting his first All-Star appearance. He scored 18 points in the game. And the following season, he took it to the next level.
He poured in career high 52 points vs the Suns, some phenomenal game winners like this one vs Houston and he truly did jump out as an elite player.
Brandon led his team to the playoffs, where they faced their rivals, the Rockets. In a six game series which he eventually lost, he had 26.7 points, 4.8 boards and 2.4 assists on 45.9% field goal percentage.
These stats are much better, considering he faced Ron Artest and Shane Battier, two of the best defenders. He got a high praise from Ron during the match up.
The next season, Roy earned his second trip to the All-Star Game. He had ton of injury problems, that sidelined him for the first round of the playoffs but he did return for Game Four to lead his team to a win.
Also, he earned his second All-NBA selection. In 2010-11, his knee injuries became serious and he couldn’t get back to his All-Star form so he started to play more from the bench.
Despite the injuries and consistency problems, he showed some flashiness of his old form. He was in the playoffs once again. His Blazers faced the eventual champions, the Mavericks, whom they fave a lot of trouble.
B-Roy had two frustrating games at the start of the match, but would score 18 points in 97-92 win. In the fourth game, he came off the bench when Dallas was leading up huge.
However, he scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to tie the series in perhaps the match of his life. The Mavs would eventually win the series later on though.
With a hope that he’ll get healthy and play again, Roy ended his fifth year of his young career. But on the 9th December, 2011, he announced that he’ll retire after the doctors told him that he’s not capable to play anymore.
He’s just another player throughout the NBA History to get his career cut. The Natural will go down as one of the finest at his position, a premier clutch and all-around player as well.
Sources:
-Wikipedia
-Basketball Reference
