We had a thread asking this question about 6 years ago, and the results were pretty overwhelming. With Melo coming in and taking jersey 00 instead of 7, It seems like a good time to re-ask the question. For those who vote no, I'm curious which of the reasons usually listed prompts you to vote that way.
Unfortunately, with his lack of team success in the playoffs, there are probably already many fans that don't even know who he is. Great player, but I can't see retiring the jersey.
I don't think he wants anything to do with Portland. His career was short. Signing with the wolves hurt us. I loved his time here, but no...
What, listing all the answers instead of just picking one? I'll remember this next time I have to vote on something...
No: Roy has burned all bridges with Portland and doesn't deserve to be honored This was my vote. But there are a lot of reasons why I wouldn't want them to retire his number.
I thought the Timberwolves would retire his jersey! He's attended one Blazer game since he's retired that I've noticed and was offered a job with Portland's organization...he went back to Seattle and coaches high school which is great, but he could have been part of Blazer culture after retirement like Kersey, Duck and Buck were
The bar has been set pretty low for Blazer number retirement. I would like to see that requirement raised and say no to retiring one for Roy. I would say that 12 should also not be retired unless LA comes back.
Retiring numbers is a privilege of ownership, not the front office or fans. I would start a campaign for Jody Allen to retire Roy's number. The more she connects with the team the better for everyone.
Well yes, it's up to the ownership, but fans can still have an opinion on it. It's an interesting point about connecting to the team. I wonder if she knows much about Roy and that Era of the Blazers?
I was not born in Portland, was not a Portland fan from birth etc... - I was an NBA fan with no team affiliation. I moved to Portland in '96 and attended my first Blazers game that year or '97, I came to a Rockets game because I loved watching Hakeem and Barkley play from before. The game experience has nudged me into becoming a Portland fan - but while that team was successful until the game 7 meltdown - they did not feel like 'my' team, I was a fan because I was a Portland resident and loved the community. The Jail Blazers era has definitely made me less interested in the team (even tho you could come to watch games for ridiculous prices) by the end. The Roy era rekindled my love for the team - this was the first team that I was really invested in - so for me, Roy is the start of my real, unequivocal Blazers love. As such, I would vote yes, especially since he was an amazing player to watch. If that guy did not basically arrive in the NBA with a damaged body - he would have been a top-5 player in the league for a decade. I no longer live in Portland, but I remain a Portland fan because of Roy to this day. It also helped that I got to meet him once and he was super-nice to my wife and (at the time) toddler.
Many great players stay close with "their" team after retirement, Roy packed his bags and you never heard anything about him in connection with the Blazers, he maybe has his reasons why he closed the chapter with the Blazers, but it would have been cool to see him in the stands sometimes, or something else in connection with the Blazers. But nope nothing
I think it's purely circumstantial. If Roy had come to the Blazers during a different era, would you still feel like he deserves to be retired? I loved BRoy and his impact was massive, but he just doesn't have the longevity or success that I feel is an absolute prerequisite for a jersey retirement. And besides, he seems to have distanced himself from the team
That's actually pretty neat, definitely can't disregard that, and for younger fans, he really helped turn the franchise around. I think being from Portland (I was technically born in the Dalles), it feels so weird how things ended, and how he seems to have no love for Portland at this point and if he kind and the franchises mended fences a bit I wouldn't have voted no even with the other things. Interesting perspective though. From all accounts, he is a really nice guy.
