Brandon Roy has finally returned to basketball, but this time not as a player. This time the ex-Trail Blazer is returning to the game as a high school coach, and a damn good one in that. Roy is still only 32 but had his promising young career cut severely short due to chronic knee injuries. Roy is now the high school men’s basketball coach for Nathan Hale High School in Seattle.
What’s exceptional about this, is Coach Roy himself. Roy took over for a program that went 3-18 last year. Guess how many losses they have this year? Not one, he has led his team to a 22-0 record! How incredible is that! Worst to first if I’ve ever seen it. After being hired this winter Roy helped recruit seven players including the top-ranked player in the nation, Michael Porter Jr. Here’s a glimpse at Brandon Roy the leader.a glimpse at Brandon Roy the leader.
Below is a glimpse at Brandon Roy inspiring his team after another win.
This is really great to see in every way. Roy is channeling his basketball IQ and knowledge to help a school and city deprived of basketball. After going 3-18 last year and having the Supersonics leave Seattle in 2007, basketball isn’t what it used to be. But what I love most about this is the mentality and message it sends. Roy may not be able to play on the court anymore, but that doesn’t mean he has to quit basketball forever. The fall down seven, stand up eight times mentality and he is living proof to his players. What better way to show your players how to be resilient and fight, then do it with them on a journey together.
You see things haven’t always been easy for Roy or turned out how he hoped in the least. Roy went from Rookie of the year in the 2006-7 season to irrelevant in four and retired in six. Roy’s story is a sad one because of the amount of untapped potential that leaves us wondering. He averaged 18.7 points for his career but I’m not sure if he even ever scratched his surface. It’s not even crazy to think if he was healthy he could have contended for scoring titles. Even when he played he was almost never healthy and still producing at an All-Star Level. But the worst part for Roy was after he retired and stepped away from the game.
Unable to play Roy attempted to boycott basketball to get over the emotions of not being able to play. Roy said “I didn’t go to any NBA games. You just miss it. It’s like you see your girlfriend, and she’s walking around with this new guy. It wasn’t anything anybody had done to me. I just felt it was hard to be around the game.”Hard not to feel bad for the guy. But Roy didn’t stay down and is now living vicariously through his players. From the video, he says “I feel like a player”. These kids have brought the best out of him and vice versa he has brought the best out of them. It’s a perfect match and one of those feel good stories you can’t help but root for. It seems lieBut I hope he stays here, he has seemed to find himself.
Hard not to feel bad for the guy. But Roy didn’t stay down and is now living vicariously through his players. From the video, he says “I feel like a player”. These kids have brought the best out of him and vice versa he has brought the best out of them. It’s a perfect match and one of those feel good stories you can’t help but root for. It seems like Roy has the talent to coach at a higher level, but I hope he stays here for a while. He seems to have found himself.
