Blazers superstar Roy has arthroscopic surgery, prognosis good

There were some tense days in the unseasonably hot Rose City following the announcement that Portland Trailblazers’ superstar guard Brandon Roy would be having arthroscopic knee surgery. The procedure was performed Thursday and went down without a hitch. The prognosis is now extremely favorable with the 2006-2007 NBA rookie of the year expected to be sidelined only 4 to 8 weeks. While he’ll miss the start of training camp, the team is extremely optimistic that he’ll be in the lineup when Portland begins the 2008-2009 NBA season on 10/28 against the LA Lakers at the Staples Center. The team will begin their home season on Halloween Night when San Antonio invades the Rose Garden Arena.

Roy’s surgery was performed by Blazer team doctor Don Roberts and involved the removal of a stray flap of cartilage. The procedure took only twenty minutes and no additional damage to the knee was revealed in the process. The Blazers are understandably gun shy when it comes to knee ailments--#1 draft pick Greg Oden missed the entire 2007-2008 season following microfracture surgery on his right knee. The news on that front has also been positive, with Oden looking very effective in a public workout last week.

The Portland Trailblazers were for years one of the league’s biggest success stories, performing well on the court and particularly due to their passionate “Rip City” fanbase. That all changed during the early part of the decade when some poor personnel decisions brought to town a group of underachieving malcontentents that frequently seemed more interested in smoking pot and committing crimes than in playing basketball. That dark era for Portland hoops earned the team the not-so-flattering moniker “JailBlazers” and for awhile threatened the team’s future in their small market home. For years, Blazer tickets were almost impossible to come by but during the “JailBlazer” era fans began to stay away from the Rose Garden Arena in droves.

That resulted in a major front office housecleaning, with the new basketball operations people then conducting an equally as thorough purge of the player roster. After suffering through a couple of dismal seasons, the team’s on court fortunes began to improve with the selection of Brandon Roy in the NBA draft. Roy won the 2006-2007 rookie of the year award and has matured into a full fledged superstar who at times looks downright unstoppable on the court. Most impressively, Roy displays as much class and professionalism off the court as he does ability on it. The addition of Oden—a potentially dominant big man in the middle—gave the young and talented Blazers the look of a future championship contender. Despite Oden’s absence from last year’s team they finished at .500 after a woeful 32-50 record the year before.

Most importantly, perhaps, the Brandon Roy/Greg Oden Blazers have been able to shake off the damage from the “JailBlazer” era and Portland is once again passionate about their basketball team. That should reach a fever pitch a few years down the road once the talented, exciting and likable young squad reaches their prime. While the community is embracing this team due to their personality, character and work ethic they’re also realizing what basketball experts were already aware of—that their “hometown team” has unlimited upside potential with NBA championships a completely realistic goal.

For now, the Portland Trailblazers and their fans will just be happy to have both of their young superstars in the starting line up on opening night—with two healthy knees a piece.