The Official Site of Brandon Roy

Wed, Nov 18th 2009, 10:08

Brandon Roy: Blazing the trail

Walk into Brandon Roy’s game room, and his custom-made, laser-etched PlayStation 3 lets you know one thing — the Blazers star doesn’t play when it comes to video games.

“The whole front face of my PS3 is a darker purple, and the sides are black. It has a big [University of Washington, where he attended college] W on it in black, so it stands out a little bit,” Roy says. He laughs as he breaks down the machine Sony built for him before last year’s NBA All-Star Game. “When I was a kid, I only had the regular games, but now people come over and see this system and they’re like, ‘Man, is it like this in the NBA?’ I’m like, no, you have to make the All-Star team to get one of these.”

These days, Roy isn’t collecting trophies just on his PS3; he’s also the cover athlete for Sony’s new PSP basketball game, “NBA 10: The Inside,” a game that features everything from five-on-five hoops to pinball to dodgeball games between NBA teams.

“When I first heard about the game coming out, I just thought it was basketball,” Roy says. “I thought it was great to be on the cover of a video game; that’s like a dream come true. Growing up, you always see the covers, and it’s the best players on the boxes and I never dreamed that I’d be one of those guys. Then when I got the game, I saw the minigames like dodgeball and bowling, and I thought it was really cool because now I don’t need to pack so many games around. This new game gives you so many options, but of course, when it comes down to it, I’m still a basketball dude, so I play more basketball than anything.”

I sat down with Roy to talk about his new game, whom he’d want on his NBA dodgeball team and his leadership role on the Blazers:

Jon Robinson: Did you play a lot of dodgeball back in the day?

Brandon Roy: Man, we used to go at it in dodgeball. We’d split the teams up, and the teacher used to know who were the better athletes, so she’d try to split up the best players. Then it was on. It was fun and it was competitive because you always had the kids that weren’t that good, so you would have to make up for them and help them out. Dodgeball gave me some early leadership skills back in the day. We used to get so competitive, I still remember the teacher yelling out for us to stop throwing the ball at the head. [laughs] You’d get so mad, you’d just start firing the ball in there. I remember getting hit in the head and I would get so mad. … It was so much fun. I really enjoyed it.

Robinson: So if you had to pick your ultimate dodgeball team of NBA players, whom would you draft?

Roy: I’d go with LeBron first. He’s so fast and athletic. Then I’d go with somebody like Dwight Howard. And my third pick would be Nate Robinson. It’s funny, because when you think about it, the best players in the NBA would probably be the best at dodgeball just because they’re so fast. So you’d need a guy like Dwyane Wade, then to finish my team up, I’d take Kobe. I think we’d be set with that.

Robinson: The video game also has bowling and pinball minigames. Are you big into playing either of those games for real?

Roy: I’m into bowling. That’s the game I play the most outside of basketball. I don’t play much dodgeball anymore. [laughs] I don’t think the Blazers will let me do dodgeball. But we actually had a team bowling event before the season started with all the players and coaches, and we had to pick teams. We had about five or six people per team, and of course, my team came out victorious. I like bowling. I don’t get as much time to do it as I’d like, but I love to compete. I’m not the greatest, I can bowl around 150-160, but I’m competitive.

Robinson: How about when it comes to video games, do you have a favorite game of all time?

Roy: The first “NBA Live” is probably my favorite game of all time. When that first came out, we were on that thing for hours. It got so bad, my mom had to take the game away from me and my brother. I’ve always been big into “Madden,” too.

Robinson: Were you a Seahawks guy in “Madden”?

Roy: I was a Seahawks guy, but they weren’t always the best team. I had to venture out a little bit in “Madden” because it gets so competitive, and I didn’t want to lose, so I had to find some new teams. I used to play as San Francisco back in the day, and then when Peyton Manning came into the league, I remember playing a lot as the Colts. I’m a big offensive guy, so any team that can score a lot of points, that’s who my “Madden” team is that year.

Robinson: Growing up as a gamer, is it a trip to think that now kids are playing these same games you grew up playing, but now they’re playing as you in “NBA Live”?

Roy: It’s funny because I go places and people will tell me, “Man, they made you sick in the new game.” [laughs] It’s amazing, and to me, it’s the weirdest thing because when I’m playing, I never play as myself. It’s weird to watch my guy make moves. But now to be on the cover of the PSP game, it’s one of the greatest joys in the world because my son looks at the cover and goes, “Daddy, daddy!” I never even dreamed I’d be on the cover, let alone hearing from people around the world how the Blazers are the best team in the game. That’s really cool for me.

Robinson: When you look at a new game like “NBA Live 10” or “NBA 2K10” and you look at the graphics, what do you think of how you look compared to when you first came into the league?

Roy: Don’t get me wrong, when I was a rookie, the games were still pretty advanced, but now I look at the new games and I’m like, “Damn, that guy looks just like me.” I’m making moves and I’m watching my movements, and they really put a lot of thought into how each of the players moves on the court. I’m just so impressed, because they not only have the moves of Brandon Roy and Kobe Bryant, they have the moves of guys who don’t even play that much, and the characters look just like them. I think that’s what’s really cool. It just shows how far gaming has really come and how far it’s going to go. Eventually it’s going to look like you’re just watching TV when you’re playing games.

Robinson: A lot of athletes have come out with their own games that aren’t sports-related, like “Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City” and “Shaq Fu.” If you could have your own game that didn’t involve basketball, what would it be?

Roy: That’s a great idea; I’ve never even thought about that. But I’d want something similar to what Shaq did this summer where he went and played all those different sports [on the TV show “Shaq Vs.”]. Maybe if I could have my character, but you could put me on a football team, put me on a baseball team, maybe even have me swimming and see how I compete at the different sports. That would be pretty cool. “Brandon Roy Vs.” Plus, in my game, if I’m losing, at least I can hit reset.

Robinson: Besides getting your first video game cover, how else did you spend your offseason?

Roy: I spent a lot of time with my two kids. I have a son who is 2½ and then a 9-month daughter, so to me, it was about spending as much time with them as possible. I actually bought a new home here in Portland, and we have a new play area. So I spent a lot of time outside with them and with my family. I have a swimming pool, so I spent a lot of time swimming and relaxing and getting mentally ready for the season.

Robinson: Sounds like you are already practicing your swimming for “Brandon Roy Vs.” When are you going to challenge Michael Phelps?

Roy: I’m no Michael Phelps. [laughs] Michael Phelps is a beast.

Robinson: There are a lot of big expectations for the Blazers this season. What do you guys need to do in order to compete out West?

Roy: Our biggest thing is we need to continue to improve defensively. We feel like we have a lot of scorers and we’re going to be able to create offensive opportunities for ourselves, but to take things to that next level, we need to get mentally tougher and come into games expecting to lock teams down. We feel that if we can become a top-five defensive team in this league, we’ll give ourselves a huge chance of winning this Northwest Division and then taking things as far as we can in the playoffs. Our No. 1 step is just defense. If we can get that, it’s going to be tough to beat us.

Robinson: A few weeks ago at practice, you stepped up and let your voice be heard. You were really vocal to your teammates, telling them they needed to work harder. Is this your evolving role as the leader of this team?

Roy: Yeah, because in past years, I would try to be quiet and I would try to feel my way through things because I was only in my second or third year in the league, but this year, it’s something that just came to me. I just have more of this sense that this is my team. We were out there and we were really struggling and we were complaining a little bit too much, and I just said, “Look, we need to step this up.” We all set a goal for this season, and we need to remember that goal every day we step on that practice court. I think it was something that the guys respected and it was something that needed to be said, and it didn’t need to be said from a coach, it needed to be said from a player. This is our team, and we’re only going to get out of it what we put in it. It was something that needed to be said, and I think guys responded really well to it.

Robinson: That’s the next step for video games, adding leadership.

Roy: That would be pretty tight.

Robinson: Do the guys on the team ever get together and play video games?

Roy: We have a lot of guys who play video games individually at their homes, because everyone is always arguing about who is better at a particular game. I’m the type of guy who doesn’t want to talk about it, I just want to play. But nobody ever wants to step up. I think they all want to keep it as an unknown as to who is the best video game player.

Robinson: So if someone is playing as your character in “NBA 10: The Inside,” what do you hope they learn about you from controlling you in the game?

Roy: The biggest thing is the way I can create and get to the basket pretty easy. That’s realistic to how I perform, not only to score but to create opportunities for my teammates.

Robinson: And when I’m playing against you in dodgeball, I’ll be sure to keep the throws down so I don’t bop you in the head.

Roy: [laughs] I appreciate it, man.