Now a little over three years into his NBA career, Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy is showing signs of evolving into the next unstoppable force in the league. He improved markedly in each of his first three seasons, leading the team to the playoffs in his third year, and this season he's expected to lead the Blazers beyond a simple playoff appearance and in the direction of title contention. Four games into the new season he's averaging 27 points, 4.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds, but his biggest improvement has more to do with the things that don't show up in the box score.
"He's definitely talking more, voicing his opinion more, and pointing out things that I think really need to be pointed out," says LaMarcus Aldridge. "I think that's what leaders on teams need to do. He recognizes that, and that's what he's starting to do. Everybody respects him because he does go out there and lead by example and works as hard as anyone, doing the things that's asking us to do. He's not one of those guys who talks about it but doesn't do it. When someone works as hard as he does and then tells you what he wants, he deserved the utmost respect."
"He's absolutely becoming the vocal leader and we need him to be," adds Steve Blake. "When your best player is vocal and you can see that he cares about what's going on it definitely motivates your team and that's what's going to take us to the next level. He's definitely giving us that leadership."
Blazers head coach Nate McMillan has been fostering Roy's ability and willingness to lead vocally for some time, and says he sees Roy finally growing into that role.
"I think it's coming around now. Part of that is you getting comfortable with yourself and getting comfortable with your situation before you can start to lead other people. Kevin (Durant) is in his third year in the league and starting to feel a little more comfortable about himself and the league and what's expected. You see guys like that mature. Brandon is doing that for us. ... Eventually it's going to come down to the players and what they do out on the floor and what they're about. To be successful you need that vocal leader out on the floor."
"You know, in the past I've always been the kind of guy who just goes out and tries to lead by example," explains Roy. "Now that I've been in the league a little bit longer and we have younger guys coming in, there's more times where I need to be more vocal. Sometimes it's getting on guys, but mostly I'm just trying to offer encouragement, let guys know how important they are to the team, and to help them keep improving. Being the vocal leader is definitely something I'm trying to get better at, but I still have a lot of room for improvement."
Blazers assistant coach Joe Prunty knows a little something about leadership. He's been on the bench with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs and Avery Johnson and the Dallas Mavericks, making multiple trips to the NBA Finals. He sees some similarities between the way Roy is evolving and the way some of the leaders on his previous teams evolved.
"I've had the privilege of working with some great coaches, and in each case we've had leaders emerge to help us become successful," explains Prunty. "In San Antonio, Tim Duncan wasn't a leader right away, but fortunately he had David Robinson and Avery Johnson to help him grow as a player. Eventually, when David and Avery were gone, Tim grew into the leader of the team, but he was his own kind of leader. He wasn't the vocal leader like Avery or the spiritual leader like David. He found a way to lead that was all his own. Avery went on to help develop Devin Harris as a leader in Dallas. He became a team captain in his fourth season and Avery really started letting Devin take the reins of the team more and more. When Devin first came to the team he had Dirk (Nowitzki), (Jerry) Stackhouse, and Jason Terry to learn from. Now the New Jersey Nets and Coach Frank is benefiting from the experiences Devin had under Avery as he emerges as a leader for his new team. The idea is to help each player create his own identity as a leader, and Nate is doing that for Brandon in Portland just like Pop did it for Tim and Avery did it for Devin."
Most importantly, despite preferring to lead by example, Roy understands what his team needs from him and he's embracing the challenge of being the leader they need him to be.
"I think it's up to me to help us get to the next level on the court and to push us to live up to our high expectations. We have to put that pressure on ourselves and we have to recognize that it's not going to be done by one guy. I have to make these guys understand that it's going to take a team effort. I can say things, but unless we go out there and do it together, we won't accomplish our goals."
It helps that the Blazers organization has made long-term commitments to Roy and Aldridge, and has assured that the core group that's in place now will be in place for the foreseeable future.
"It makes you want to step up, I think, and do things like Brandon's doing, like being more of a leader," says Aldridge. "It's easier to lead by example when you know the organization really believes in us and we want to do more to reward them for the choice they made."
"I have a lot more confidence because I know things aren't going to change," adds Roy. "This organization has made a commitment to me and LaMarcus and I'm excited that the guys we have are going to be here for a long time. That makes me feel really good."
Apparently when Roy feels really good he plays like an MVP . . .and that can only bode well for the Blazers, both this season and beyond.
