The Official Site of Brandon Roy

Tue, Oct 27th 2009, 13:53

Brandon Roy: The Portland Trail Blazers' undisputed leader

It was just like any other practice earlier this month when Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan whistled for his team to gather at midcourt, signaling the end of practice.

Quickly, though, the coaching staff and players discovered this would be no ordinary practice.

brandon-roy3-102609.jpgAs McMillan started to address the team, he was interrupted. Not more than four words had come out of the coach’s mouth when team star Brandon Roy cut him off, his voice sharp, his mood irritated.

Roy began a rant to his teammates about their poor attitudes and lackadaisical effort during the practice. He had been stewing throughout the two-hour workout, which came after a day off and after a thorough drubbing in Los Angeles to the Clippers. As the team went through the practice, Roy said he heard grumbling.

“Why are we going so hard?” one player complained.

“Aren’t we done yet?” another huffed.

Roy remembers asking assistant coach Kaleb Canales “This is October, why is everyone in a rush to get out of here?”

Soon, Roy made up his mind. He would not tolerate this again. Not on this team. Not on his team.

So when McMillan started his post-practice address to the team with “That was a pretty good practice … ,” Roy snapped.

Stunned, McMillan said he dropped his head, looked at the floor, and listened.

“That was not a championship practice!” Roy remembers telling the team. “We can’t sit here and say we want to win a championship and practice, you know, pretty good. We have to practice at a higher level. We can’t keep making excuses!”

As he stared at the floor, McMillan had to compose himself. Inside, he was swelling with pride. The best player on the team was holding his teammates accountable. McMillan had long worried that his frequent barking and biting at his team would eventually be tuned out. He needed another voice. He needed someone else to see his vision of work ethic, and act on it.

Roy not only delivered, he drove it home with a sledge hammer.

“Brandon has never done that before,” Greg Oden said. “It was out of nowhere. We were all having a tough practice and it wasn’t up to his standards. For him to do that, it was big. It was him stepping up as a leader on this team. I mean, if Brandon says something, it goes. It has to. It’s his team. We are all following him.”

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