I went to college with Brandon, we took Swahili together and got to know him fairly well. We werent besties obviously but he always chatted me up when I'd see him on campus, he'd say what's up Jay and give me the bro hug. Plus my roommate was also the team manager so B.Roy, Nate Robinson, Will Conroy (heldthe record for most 10day contracts lol but also won D League MVP), Bobby Jones and Jon Brockman (both played in the league for a few seasons) and in the offseason Jamal Crawford would often kick it at our house playing Tiger Woods or Madden. Brandon was super humble actually. Coach Romar had to push him to be more selfish on the court because he played within the system and it was obvious that B.Roy had that IT factor to take over games when necessary. The guy wasn't going to wow you in any one aspect but when you include IQ, temperament, bball smarts, and the innate ability to play under control, the kid literally had no holes in his game. The guy could fly but he wasn't Nate Robinson. His shot was silk but he wasn't Tre Simmons. He was a tough defender but he wasn't bobby Jones. The thing was it was almost like watching Griffey growing up...he made the game look so effortless that casuals might think he's not trying hard. But dude could get to the rack virtually at will, he could finish, he'd knock down FTs, he saw the court like a PG and his midrange game was freaking butter. His Sr year tho he improved his 3ball bigtime. And he wasn't flashy with it; probably because that wasn't his nature but his handles along with his body control gave teams nightmares. Hell, his post up game was scary. The crazy thing is he was so good that even with his knees being known to have only a handful of good years left, he was v still picked 4th? ovr in a swap for Rudy Gay. Guy was a HOFer with a healthy meniscus, no doubt in my mind. Which i feel for the guy...UW retired his jersey a couple years back and that was the first basketball game he attended in like 8 or 10yrs. It ate him up so much that it was too painful to even watch a game. He accepted the invitation when his oldest son asked him dad, were you actually really that good? Or something to that effect. Which also sounds very much like Brandon....haha remember Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite "I could throw a football a 1/4 mile". Brandon is the opposite of that. I read a clickbait article a few months back about 10 real gangsters who played in the NBA. They listed Brandon Roy at like #7, which really pissed me off. I had a bunch of high school friends who played AAU ball with him for YES! and he was always putting in work at St Joes open gym. None of my friends said a bad word about him at all. If he was in a gang, there was absolutely no possible way i wouldn't have known about it. Yes, his older brother Ed was affiliated and ran into some trouble. But Brandons parents were at every game, sitting right next to his sister and his uncle who wore a UW longsleeve with k. roy on the back. Every game. Four years. Brandon didn't drink or smoke. At all. Neither did Nate. Or Will. He was with the same girl his entire time in college. Coach Romar was a devout Christian and he loved Brandon like a son. Nate was the erratic athletic freak who always was talking trash and goofed on everyone, I remember he used to love shooting water balloons around campus. He kept everyone loose. Will lived to play basketball, he was the militant one who would get in guys faces and make sure they were always getting better. Guy was a freaking bulldog. Bobby Jones was the partier, super chill guy, loved him some BC bud but was a defensive menace that you didn't want guarding you. And Brandon was that calming reliable star that didn't act like one but everyone knew he was special and was the quiet leader. That team was so damn fun to watch. Larry Brown told J.Crawford when he was coaching him for the Knicks that he DVRd every UW game and watched them in his hotel room. I honestly don't watch the nba much anymore...load management, soft players who cry when an analyst, you know, ANALYZES, politics shoved down your throat, legislating defense out of the game almost entirely. I'm sorry but Steph Curry is probably the best shooter ever, but put Gary Payton on the guy, hell, even Stockton or Ainge, body him off his route, give him a hand check, have Oakley or McHale or Rodman meet him in the paint, make him realize those 2 free points are no longer "free", and Curry would already be out of the league. He wouldve still be a nice player but this guy has been coddled his whole career in what is essentially now glorified H-O-R-S-E and the equivalent of summer football 7-on-7 tournaments. Of course with only a QB, RB, C, TE and 2-3 WRs vs 4 DBS and a couple LBers, a stud WR might catch 22 passes because you're playing in space, the basketball equivalent of 5-out where Dennis Rodman would not have a spot in today's NBA. Gawd I just want to see GP handchecking Stockton one more time, then posting up, backing down weaker defenders, and cash in an easy 8ft turnsround jumper. Steph curry would be a role player bc Payton would absolutely abuse the stick figure every time down court and he would be a liability to keep in the lineup. I want to watch basketball again, not a glorified skills competition. Hell, id pay good money to watch chet holmgren and his protruding ribcage try to guard shaq. He wouldn't last half a quarter before inquiring about which D League team has a spot.

My all-time favorite Blazer to watch. Can you imagine B-Roy, Dame and Lamarcus on the same team?

First! Roy was bound to be a HOF until the injuries.

I miss seeing him on the court…

These thumbnails are getting outta hand😂

Roy was NEVER healthy in the NBA. His knees were shot. He could jump higher when he was a 13 year old kid than he could in the NBA. Healthy he is behind Jordan, Lebron, Kobe and nobody else that played the 1,2 or 3 spot. He was that phenomenal.