Brandon Roy is walking away from the game… which makes us sad. But he’s doing it while he can still walk, which is understandable.
How Roy’s retirement is formally going down is that the Blazers will amnesty him, reports Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo. The reason is they need to get his salary of the books for the signing of Jamal Crawford.
Because this is an amnesty process — the Blazers have to waive him by Friday — there is the chance other teams could bid to pick him up on waivers (as the Clippers did with Chauncey Billups).
But that would be a waste of effort, as Roy is not coming back, his agent told Yahoo.Doctors have told Roy that his degenerative knees make it impossible for him to continue playing in the NBA. He has no more cartilage in his knees, and the continued grind of playing in the league could ultimately jeopardize his ability to walk.
“Brandon has no intention of returning to professional basketball,” his agent, Greg Lawrence, told Yahoo! Sports. “He has been instructed by several doctors that he has a career-ending injury and needs to stop playing immediately. He has chronic problems in both knees and his long-term health is already in jeopardy. …Playing further will unquestionably have serious consequences.
“Brandon appreciates the support of the Blazers organization and fans, and is glad they will be able to sign a player immediately who can help the team.”This is what Roy has to do. But it still makes us sad for what might have been.
