Former NBA player Greg Oden had high praise for his former Portland Trail Blazers teammate, Brandon Roy. Oden spoke highly of Roy during his appearance at “Gil’s Arena” on Thursday, where he didn’t hold back his compliments for the 6-foot-6 shooting guard.
Oden had the chance to play with Roy, an offensive force for the Blazers. His on-court talent made him a three-time All-Star, and a two-time All-NBA player. During his peak, he averaged 22.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
At that time, one of the players who admired Roy’s talents was the late Kobe Bryant. The former Los Angeles Lakers star couldn’t figure out how to defend the former sixth-overall pick and Oden remembers how Bryant respects his teammate’s game.
“He just — that nickname, it was just him,” Oden said. “Because he was just so smooth. He always come up, ‘What up, Greg Oden?’ They just get buckets over there.”
“It never looked hard for him, he was never sped up. He was one of those guys that gave Kobe [Bryant] problems and Kobe said that. Just unfortunate, but when we did play together, all three of us, I think our record’s like 52-10 over a span of a year and a half.”
“[Brandon Roy] was one of those guys that gave Kobe problems.”
Greg Oden remembers how smooth B-Roy was for the Trailblazers. pic.twitter.com/oZJqGOkQw7
— Underdog (@UnderdogFantasy) November 21, 2024
Even though they didn’t spend much time together on the floor, Oden was ultimately grateful that he had the opportunity to play with Roy.
“I’m just so happy I got to play with him because everything was just so smooth for him.”
Even though they were together in Portland for three years, they only played 62 games. Throughout their careers, both athletes sustained injuries that prevented them from performing to their full potential.
Brandon Roy shared his favorite moment with Kobe Bryant
During an episode of Michael Porter Jr.’s show, “Curious Mike” in September 2021, Roy spoke about his favorite moment with Kobe Bryant. He claims he sustained an injury that kept him out of action during a regular season game versus the Lakers. At that moment, Bryant was also injured and didn’t play the game.
“So I’m like, ‘Kob!’ So he hops up off the table and he’s like, ‘B-Roy, come here!’ So I went to dap him and he gave me a bear hug,” Roy said about meeting Kobe Bryant. “And I was just like, this is Kobe. So I ended up sitting down, he’s laying on the table, and I sit in the locker. And we end up sitting there and talking and joking the whole second half of the game.”
“And that was for me, not just because of his passing, but that was like, “Damn, I’m meeting my idol and I get to hang out with him. I asked him about everything under the sun. I was like, ‘So, how is your and Michael Jordan’s relationship?’ He’s like, ‘Me and Mike’s cool.”
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
