Brandon Roy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Brandon Roy

Roy with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2009
Garfield Bulldogs
Head Coach
Personal information
Born	(1984-07-23) July 23, 1984 (age 40) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
High school	Garfield (Seattle, Washington)
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	211 lb (96 kg)
Career information
College	Washington (2002–2006)
NBA Draft	2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career	2006–2011, 2012–2013
Coaching career	2016–2018, 2019–present
Career history
As player:
2006–2011	Portland Trail Blazers
2012–2013	Minnesota Timberwolves
As coach:
2016–2017	Nathan Hale HS
2017–2018, 2019–present	Garfield HS
Career highlights and awards
As player: 3× NBA All-Star (2008–2010) All-NBA Second Team (2009) All-NBA Third Team (2010) NBA Rookie of the Year (2007) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2007) Consensus first-team All-American (2006) Pac-10 Player of the Year (2006) First-team All-Pac-10 (2006) No. 3 retired by Washington Huskies As coach: Naismith National HS Coach of the Year (2017) 3x WIAA 3A State Champion (2017, 2018, 2023)
Career statistics
Points	6,136 (18.8 ppg)
Rebounds	1,388 (4.3 rpg)
Assists	1,517 (4.7 apg)

Brandon Dawayne Roy (born July 23, 1984) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the boys' basketball team at Garfield High School in Seattle. Roy played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves. He was picked sixth in the 2006 NBA draft after playing four years for the Washington Huskies. People called him "B-Roy" and "the Natural". In 2011, Roy announced he was retiring from basketball because of serious knee problems. He tried to come back in 2012, playing five games for the Timberwolves.

Born in Seattle, Roy quickly made a big impact with the Trail Blazers. After his first season, the team captain, Zach Randolph, was traded. This allowed Roy to become a leader for the team. That season, Roy won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award by a huge vote. He was also chosen for two All-NBA teams and played in the 2008, 2009, and 2010 All-Star Games.

Early Life and High School

Brandon Roy went to an African-American Academy elementary school. He started playing basketball seriously with the Amateur Athletic Union, a big sports group in the U.S. He attended Garfield High School in Seattle. He was known as one of the best high school players in the state. Roy thought about joining the 2002 NBA draft right after high school but decided not to.

Experts like Scout.com thought Roy was a top player. In 2002, they ranked him as the No. 6 shooting guard and the No. 36 player in the whole country.

College Basketball Career

Before college, Roy faced some challenges. His parents and older brother had not gone to college. Roy also found it hard to take the SAT test because of slow reading. He took the test four times before he could meet the NCAA rules for college. While waiting to see if he could go to a four-year college, Roy worked on the Seattle docks. He cleaned shipping containers to earn money.

In 2002, Roy began playing for the University of Washington (UW). He played there for four years under coach Lorenzo Romar. He studied American Ethnic Studies. After his third year, Roy thought about joining the NBA draft. But he changed his mind when his teammate Nate Robinson and a high school senior named Martell Webster decided to enter the draft. Roy saw a chance to become a top player on his college team and improve his chances for the NBA draft later.

On December 29, 2005, Roy led the Huskies to a win against the Arizona State Sun Devils. He scored a college career-high 35 points in that game. He also became the 31st Washington player to score 1,000 points in his college career. In the next game, he scored 35 points again in a close loss to the Arizona Wildcats.

During his final year, Roy averaged 20.2 points per game. He helped the Huskies have a great season with 26 wins and 7 losses. They also reached the Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row. Roy was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year. He also received All-American honors. He was a finalist for several top college basketball awards.

In 2006, Roy had a tryout with the Trail Blazers before the draft. The Minnesota Timberwolves picked him sixth overall in the draft. But they immediately traded him to the Trail Blazers for the draft rights to another player, Randy Foye.

On January 22, 2009, before a University of Washington Huskies home game, his number 3 jersey was retired. This means no other player on the team will wear that number again.

Professional NBA Career

Portland Trail Blazers (2006–2011)

Rookie of the Year Season

Roy during the 2006 NBA draft

Roy's first NBA game was in his hometown against the Seattle SuperSonics. He scored 20 points in that game and 19 in the next. A problem with his left heel kept him out of 20 games early in the season. But he got his first career double-double (scoring double digits in two different stats) soon after returning. This happened on December 22, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors. By the end of January 2007, Roy was leading all NBA rookies with 14.5 points per game.

He was chosen to play in the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge. This made him the fourth Trail Blazer to be picked for the rookie team since 1994. He was also the first Trail Blazer to be part of the All-Star Weekend since Rasheed Wallace in 2001.

Roy was named the Western Conference's Rookie of the Month in January, February, and March 2007. He averaged 16.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game during the 2006–07 NBA season. Because of this, Roy was named NBA Rookie of the Year. He received almost all the first-place votes. He played in only 57 games that season due to his injury. This was one of the fewest games played by a Rookie of the Year. He was the third Trail Blazer to win this award. The first two were Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks.

Becoming an All-Star

Roy started in the first 48 games of the 2007–08 season. He averaged 19.1 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.6 rebounds. He also helped the Blazers win 13 games in a row in December. Roy was chosen as a reserve player for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. He scored 18 points and had 9 rebounds in that game. He hurt his right ankle in the last game before the All-Star Weekend. Even though he played well at the All-Star event, the injury affected his play in the weeks after. He played in the Rookie Challenge again, this time as a "sophomore" (second-year player). His teammate LaMarcus Aldridge was also on the sophomore team. Roy played about 29 minutes in the All-Star game, more than any other Western Conference player. He also tied Chris Paul and Amar'e Stoudemire for the most points with 18.

First All-NBA Team Selection

Roy handles the ball during a 2008 game

In the 2008 preseason, Roy had a small medical procedure on his left knee. This was to remove a piece of cartilage that was causing pain. Roy missed a few weeks to recover. But he was ready for the first game of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers. On November 6, against the Houston Rockets, Roy made a game-winning shot from far away in overtime. There were only eight-tenths of a second left.

On December 18, Roy scored a career-high 52 points against the Phoenix Suns. He made 14 of 27 shots from the field and 19 of 21 free throws. He also made 5 of 7 three-point shots. He added six assists, five rebounds, and a blocked shot, all without losing the ball. On January 24, Roy tied a Blazers team record with 10 steals against the Washington Wizards. On February 8, with the Blazers behind by 1 point against the Knicks, Roy made a layup at the buzzer to win the game 109–108. By February 16, 2009, Roy had made 24 shots that tied or won games with 35 seconds or less.

Roy was chosen again as a reserve for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. He scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and passed for 5 assists in 31 minutes. On April 13, Roy was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time. At that time, Clyde Drexler was the only other Portland Trail Blazer to win the award four times. Roy finished 9th in the voting for the MVP award for the 2008–09 season. On May 13, Roy was named to the All-NBA Second Team. He was the first Blazer to make an All-NBA team since the 1991–92 season.

Second All-NBA Team Selection

Roy defending DeShawn Stevenson in a game

On August 5, 2009, it was confirmed that Roy agreed to a big contract with the Trail Blazers. This deal would keep him with the team until at least the 2013–14 season.

Roy was chosen to play in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. This was his third time being selected as an NBA All-Star. However, Roy could not play because of a right hamstring injury. He first got the injury on January 13 and it got worse on January 20.

On April 11, 2010, Roy hurt his right knee. Tests showed a slight tear in his meniscus (a part of the knee). Roy had surgery on April 16. He was expected to miss at least the first round of the 2010 NBA playoffs. But he came back for Game 4 after only eight days of recovery. He helped the Blazers win that game.

Roy was named to the All-NBA Third Team on May 6. This was his second season in a row to be named to an All-NBA Team. Before the next season started, rival player Kobe Bryant said Roy was the hardest player to guard in the Western Conference. Bryant said Roy had "no weaknesses in his game."

Roy was featured on the cover of the video game NBA 10: The Inside.

Final Season in Portland

Roy started the first month of the 2010-11 season scoring well. But by December, his knees started causing problems. He had been bothered by his knees since college. He missed nine games before the Trail Blazers said he would be out for an unknown amount of time.

Roy with his Portland teammates

On January 17, 2011, Roy had surgery on both of his knees. He returned to play on February 25. He scored 18 points coming off the bench. This included a crucial three-pointer that forced overtime. He helped the Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 107–106.

The Blazers then played the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2011 NBA playoffs. Roy struggled in the first two games. He shot 1-for-8 and played only 8 minutes in Game 2, scoring no points. The Blazers lost both games and were down 0–2 in the series. Roy was upset about not playing much.

In Game 4, both teams started slowly. Dallas had a small lead. The Blazers then missed their first 15 shots after halftime, and Dallas's lead grew to 67–44. Roy made a three-pointer near the end of the third quarter to cut the lead to 67–49. In the fourth quarter, Roy scored 18 points after having only 1 point in the first three quarters. He made a key 4-point play to tie the game. He also made a shot with 49 seconds left to give his team the lead for good. He finished with 24 points to lead the Blazers to an amazing 84–82 win, tying the series.

Just before NBA training camp opened after the 2011 NBA lockout, Roy announced that his knees were too damaged to play. He said he was retiring from basketball.

After he announced his retirement, the Portland Trail Blazers used a special rule to release Roy from his contract. This helped the team with their team budget.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2012–2013)

In June 2012, Roy said he was planning to come back to the NBA. He felt he had recovered enough to play after getting a special treatment for his knees. He could not play for Portland because they had released him earlier. Roy became a free agent on July 1, 2012. He was interested in signing with teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, or Chicago Bulls.

On July 31, 2012, Roy signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. This deal put Roy on a team with All-Star player Kevin Love and point guard Ricky Rubio. He decided to wear number 3, which was his number in college. He felt good during training camp. But he got hurt after a collision in a preseason game on October 26, 2012. He played in only five regular season games before needing surgery on his right knee. This surgery ended his season. He averaged 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game in 24.4 minutes during the 2012–13 season. The Timberwolves released Roy on May 10, 2013. Afterward, he said he had "what-ifs" about leaving the game. But he felt he answered those questions by trying to play again.

Coaching Career

After his playing career ended, Roy became the head coach for the boys' basketball team at Nathan Hale High School in 2016. In March 2017, he won the Naismith National High School Coach of the Year award. His team had a perfect record of 29 wins and 0 losses that season.

After some key players left, Roy was named the head coach of Garfield High School's boys' basketball team in May 2017. He stepped down as head coach during the 2018–19 season for private reasons but returned in 2019. He stepped down again after the 2019–20 season but returned in 2022.

Career Statistics

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

College

Personal Life

Roy signing an autograph

Brandon Roy and his longtime girlfriend, Tiana Bardwell, had their first child, Brandon Jr. (nicknamed BJ), on March 27, 2007. Their second child, Mariah Leilani, was born in January 2009. Roy and Bardwell got married on September 4, 2010, in West Linn, Oregon.

Images for kids

• 

  Roy with his Portland teammates

See Also

In Spanish: Brandon Roy para niños

• List of National Basketball Association single-game steals leaders