It is not easy to get an interview with former Trail Blazer Brandon Roy. After his career was cut dreadfully short due to knee injuries, the 6th overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft has kept a relatively low profile. You hear every now and then about Roy, who was instrumental in revitalizing the franchise after the "Jail Blazers" years, showing up at various youth basketball tournaments -- he and Damian Lillard hung out for a bit at this year's Les Schwab Invitational -- and he's a regular fixture at events in Seattle, but for the most, he's avoided the spotlight in his retirement.
So kudos to Clippers guard JJ Redick for getting Roy to guest on his podcast for Adrian Wojnarowski's "The Vertical" website. During the interview, Roy and Redick discuss their history together, hanging out in the run up to the 2006 Draft, the NBA's minimum age rule and the new rules heading into this year's draft. And at the end, Roy discusses the end of his career in Portland. It's well worth your time.
For me, the most compelling part comes at the end when Roy discusses how he views his injury-shortened career...
All of the "what could have been" questions are probably why Roy, who was always incredibly gracious dealing with the media, prefers to live his post-basketball life out of the spotlight. It would be hard to move on to the next stage of your life if all anybody ever wanted to talk about was your past, so it makes sense why Roy generally avoids media attention these days (not to mention he was notorious for all but disappearing from the public eye in the offseason while playing for the Trail Blazers). But that just makes it all the more interesting when he does pop back up.