I liked Roy a lot more than Aldridge, and he was far more entertaining to watch - but yes the way he left the Blazers and let his ego get in the way of having a clean exit and remaining a hero in PDX was ruined as a result. Too bad too because he was a great player, and could have left a lasting legacy that would have lived on for quite a while.
True, but Roy would have stayed in Portland if he could. He wanted to be here. Aldridge was always disconnected with the fans. It's really moot because Lillard is better than both. He's got Roy's killer instinct and Aldridge's longevity (knock on wood)
Good point I mis-remembered. Of course we wouldn't have had to amnesty him if he'd stayed medically retired...
A couple of random points. I remember many times Roy going out of the game and the other team making a run only to have Roy return to the game and slowly even up the game. I don't ever remember a lot of dropoff when LMA left the game. LMA would hate this, but it's the truth. Roy shielded LMA from the press over and over again. LMA had some subpar years at the beginning of his career and instead of the press interviewing him about how a #2 pick wasn't living up to his billing, they'd interview Roy, who was awesome. I think the 9 vs. 4.5 is a superoversimplification. I don't care to go back to the stats to see how many of the 9 were actually good years. I'm annoyed at Roy because his lack of grasp of reality really hurt us. I'm annoyed at LMA because he repeated lied to us, even up until the end, leaving our franchise to rebuild. Frankly, though it is unpopular around here, I actually still like Greg Oden.
Great post Wizard Mentor Just to add to that..people forget with the fog of LAs recent couple of years, how less than awesome he was. LA had the starting job right out of the gate as implied by being the number two pick. I would rather be watching someone like Meyers have to earn and learn to appreciate the position. Give Meyers a year then compare their collective first few seasons..
I believe the medical retirement only meant that the team would not have to pay his salary out of pocket, but it would still count against the cap. The amnesty came after he retired, or right around it.
No we didn't, Roy's contract was amnestied after the latest CBA renegotiation, he had literally zero impact on our cap whatsoever. PA had to pay him whatever the insurance didn't cover, but otherwise you're completely wrong.
That is why I wrote "as implied " everyone knew that the mantle had passed the moment LA was drafted. BUT I will accept the nitpick from someone as highly regarded as yourself....it means that I am not on your ignore list hahaha
Roy led the Blazers out of a really rough time in franchise history. He gave fans a reason to cheer and believe again. He brought heart and hustle, leading the team to some incredible last second wins. Roy made the Blazers relevant again, LaMarcus played longer, scored more points, pulled down more rebounds but he didn't really lead the team anywhere. I'm not knocking Aldridge, Roy was a shooting star when we really needed one. Roy exceeded expectations, we saw glimpses with Aldridge but he never quite lived up to them. Roy meant more when he played here so, IMO, Roy had the better career.
Roy at his best was much better than Aldridge. I've been waiting for Aldridge to take that next step to be one of the top dominant NBA big man and thought he might be able to finally do it his next few seasons here but his Blazer legacy was also finished somewhat incomplete. Roy lead the 2008-9 54 win team with the most efficient offense since the best Nash era Suns. Roy did it with an offensively inept Pryzbilla in the middle; something Nash never had to overcome. That year it was all Roy isolation's for the fourth quarter with Outlaw at PF. Defenses couldn't do anything to stop it. Let Roy take the ball up top one on one and he got a layup, foul, or open three point shot for a teammate. LMA was never that dominant. Roy never had the quality of teammates Aldridge had for Aldridges best few years here. That series loss in 2009 against Houston our third and fourth best players were scoring 9 and 7 points per game in Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez. What would Roy have accomplished if he had players of the caliber of Rolo, Batum, Wes, and Dame all starting alongside him? LaMarcus obviously shined longer but Roy shined much, much brighter. Will I think of Aldridge more fondly a few years from now? Perhaps, but I just remember those peak Roy moments much more than any of Aldridges. Roy was a much better leader, spokesman and teammate. Aldridge isn't a bad guy he's just sort of an uninteresting loner personality as Kareem Abdul Jabar is. Roy was the type of person players, fans and the media all enjoyed being around.
Roy. He is far more iconic imo. Aldridge will go down as just a long tenured Blazers player. Terry and Cliff level (but a notch below because of lack of playoff success. Roy was the franchise reviver, for that he is always gonna be my 1a or 1b with Lillard.