NBA: Each team’s greatest comeback from injury in franchise history

Greatest injury comeback in Portland Trail Blazers history: Brandon Roy

Knee injuries

Brandon Roy is a legendary name in Portland Trail Blazers lore, given his ability to score the basketball and his career, though short-lived, was an ode to the toll the game takes on some players’ bodies.

Roy was named the 2006-07 Rookie of the Year with the Portland Trail Blazers after putting up 16.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in 57 appearances.

In Year 2, he made the first of three consecutive All-Star appearances and each year he improved. In 2008-09, he poured in a career-high 22.6 points along with 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds as the premier shooting guard.

In 2009-10, he appeared in just 65 games, due to hamstring injuries and a right meniscus tear.  During the 2010 postseason, he returned at a key moment in the first round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, scoring 10 points in a decisive Game 4 victory just eight days after surgery on a torn meniscus.

The Blazers would go on to lose the series but it spoke on Roy’s determination despite his knee injuries. He played sparingly due to his knees breaking down on him during the 2010-11 season, but he saved the best for the postseason, once again.

In the 2011 NBA Playoffs, Roy came up big in Games 3 and 4 of the series against the Dallas Mavericks. He scored 15 points off the bench in their 97-92 victory over the Mavericks to get their first win in the series. Then with the team down big in Game 4, he scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead Portland to an 84-82 victory to even the series at 2-2.

Roy ran out of gas after that as the Mavericks would go on to win the series. When the season was complete, Roy announced his retirement. He attempted a comeback in 2012-13 with the Minnesota Timberwolves but after five games, he returned to the sidelines, this time to coach high school basketball in the state of Washington.