Brandon Roy considering retirement

It didn’t take long for the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Brandon Roy to consider retirement due to chronic knee issues. Roy, 28, recently revealed that he has level III arthritis – Level VI is a knee replacement. Roy has struggled with knee problems dating back to high school where he had his first of now seven knee procedures. Brandon Roy doesn’t have cartilage in either of his knee’s and is struggling to keep a steady pace for himself this season. After only five games played for the Timberwolves Roy had to take a seat on the sidelines and rest his knees. What was suppose to be a few days rest extended to an entire month of recovery after the procedure. It was reported that several doctors highly recommended the retirement of Brandon Roy due to severe arthritis in his knees. Roy is currently suffering through level 3 arthritis pain and if increase to level 4 it would require Roy to get knee replacement surgery.

“Not just one doctor, but multiple doctors have told Roy that he should stop playing basketball. His knees are getting worse by the day. By now, at 28, he has had so many surgeries, so many treatments and seen so many doctors, he sounds like a specialist. He explains that he has degenerative arthritis, which erodes and eventually eliminates cartilage, with the same precision and ease that came to define his run of three consecutive All-Star appearances. And with the calm that made him one of the game’s best finishers, he explains that his knees have reached Level III arthritis. There are only four stages.”

In his 5 games played with the Timberwolves Brandon averaged only 5.8 points per game on 31.4% shooting and a less than mediocre 0/9 shooting beyond the arc. Once an 3-time NBA All-Star and a Rookie of the Year award winner, it’s not hard to tell why Roy hasn’t been living up to the expectations he and the Minnesota fans had hoped for after getting the same knee procedure Kobe Bryant once got over the summer. Roy didn’t play any ball last season as he claimed he was throwing in the towel for the remainder of his career, but eventually decided to try his hand at a return. The Wolves signed him to a 2 year $10.4 million deal, the second year is non-guaranteed. This will leave the Wolves the option to make a trade or hunt the free agent market for a potential replacement. The temporary filling for the roster will be Luke Ridnour, Malcolm Lee, and Alexey Shved. Minnesota did recently add another new face to the franchise with the signing of veteran Josh Howard. With the little amount of playing time of Derrick Williams, and lack of production when he does play, expect the wolves to make a trade for a potential shooting guard.

Although it is almost over for Brandon Roy, he isn’t completely disappointed. Roy had a lot of success with the Portland Trail Blazers and couldn’t stand the thought of not giving it another chance. Unfortunately for both Roy and the Wolves the chance he makes a comeback are slim.

“If it ends in three weeks, it ends. It’s over. I’m totally satisfied with what I’ve done. I know the sacrifice and the effort that I put into coming back. It took a lot of discipline to get to where I am. That’s all I care about: how hard I’ve worked. So I can’t say I’m disappointed, that would be selfish. I was just a normal player my junior year in college, and everything since has been a major blessing.”