Brandon Roy was well on his way to NBA superstardom after an 08-09 campaign that saw him average 22.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game with an impressive PER of 24.08. Then the knee injuries came. Roy still averaged 21.5 points per game last season, but missed 17 regular-season games, saw his efficiency drop off, and was barely able to appear in the playoffs at all.
This year, he only appeared in 23 games for the Blazers, was a shell of himself when he was on the court, and recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees and may be out for the rest of the season. When John Canzano of 95.5 The Game in Portland asked Roy about his medical prognosis, the 26-year old Roy was frank about the state of his knees, and confident that he’ll be able to play at a high level again in the future:“I don’t think medically I will ever be able to get back to 100%. The doctors do feel confident that I can get back to a high level of basketball. I don’t want to say to an all-star level because coaches boast those things every year and different guys deserve them but they do feel like I can get to that level where I can continue to help this team and produce at a high level...
...Just being in the NBA I knew there were some problems there with the knees but I never read too much into it. I had the surgery I think after my second season and I was able to come back and have a great third year, so my biggest thing is that I never read too much into my knees. Right now this is a tough spot and it is something that I can get through and one day look back and say, that was something big that I overcame in my basketball career and can be really proud of.”Since Roy’s game relied more on a deft shooting touch, excellent ball skills, and an off-the-charts basketball IQ rather than pure athleticism when he was happy, he should be able to play at a high level even if he doesn’t get all of his pre-surgery explosiveness back. However, he’ll still need his knees to hold up for a full season, which is always a dicey proposition for knees as well-worn as Roy’s. Hopefully Roy can come back and play at a high level, because it’s been a shame to see Roy and Greg Oden’s extremely promising careers be repeatedly set back by knee injuries at such young ages.