Brandon Roy has an argument to be considered the biggest 'what if' in NBA history. He was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2006 and looked like he was destined for greatness, becoming an All-Star in three of the first four years of his career.
During the late 2000s, Roy was considered to be the next great shooting guard, competing directly with Kobe Bryant. And the two shared a healthy competitive rivalry, with Roy revealing his favorite Kobe memory a year ago. It occurred in the locker room during a game where both stars were injured.
"So I'm like, 'Kob!' So he hops up off the table and he's like, 'B-Roy, come here!' So I went to dap him and he gave me a bear hug. And I was just like, this is Kobe. So I ended up sitting down, he's laying on the table, and I sit in the locker. And we end up sitting there and talking and joking the whole second half of the game," Roy said.
"And that was for me, not just because of his passing, but that was like, "Damn, I'm meeting my idol and I get to hang out with him. I asked him about everything under the sun. I was like, 'So, how is your and Michael Jordan's relationship?' He's like, 'Me and Mike's cool."
Kobe Bryant was the man at the shooting guard position during the 2000s, but Brandon Roy actually had a winning record against him. The two faced one another 13 times in the regular season, with Roy's team winning on eight occasions against the Los Angeles Lakers.
But such was Kobe Bryant's aura, that even the biggest up-and-coming star was in awe of him. It's easy to see why he had so much respect for the Black Mamba, too. Bryant dropped 65 points on Roy and the Blazers in his rookie season.
There's a reason that Brandon Roy gets the respect that he does. The man was averaging 21.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.2 points per game before the age of 25 in a low-scoring era of the NBA. And Kobe Bryant had a lot of respect for that, he once said that Roy's game had no weaknesses.
Roy retired after just five seasons in the NBA, with the cartilage in both of his knees degenerating entirely. He tried to make a comeback, but couldn't quite manage it. Ultimately though, he has the respect of every baller that watched him hoop, including the Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant.
