Portland Trail Blazers: The End of an Era, an Ode to Brandon Roy

Before you press on reading, I am asking that you clear your mind of the 2010-2011 NBA season. Forget about his numbers during the post-injury days, and remember all the good that Brandon Roy has done for Portland...

Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011 was a huge day for sportswriters across the globe. First, the CP3-to-Los Angeles trade broke wind, causing a buzz around the league.

Then, Commissioner David Stern signed his own death warrant by vetoing the trade for "basketball reasons." And finally, news of Dwight Howard possibly making his way to New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) hit the news.

Almost an early Christmas for huge basketball fans like you and I...almost.

But then, some significantly darker news dropped. News that no one was expecting. News that shattered the soul of every Trail Blazer fan across the country. 

Brandon Roy of Portland Trail Blazers Forced to Retire Due to Knees.

This is one of those "Wait, What??" moments that Grantland.com's Bill Simmons so elegantly described in his take on Stern's veto of the Chris Paul trade. That moment when you have to do a double take simply because you can't believe what you just witnessed. That's what hit me.

How could a player of B-Roy's talent level just hang it up and throw away what he had started? Not even one last hurrah? Just one more go-round to prove his worth to the fans—that's all we wanted.

But he cut it short. The fame and the glory. The days in the white, black and red are coming to an end, an I, for one, am having a hard time swallowing it.

Here's the 2007 Rookie of the Year and a three-time NBA Western Conference All-Star who, because of terrible misfortunes, has bone-on-bone knees and is now a shade of his former self.

Here's the heart-and-soul of the Portland community because of a fickle owner's indecision on activating the amnesty clause on one of the most prolific players in Rip City history.

I can't say enough about B-Roy and what he's done for not only the franchise, but the community in Portland.

Forget his half season of '09-'10 where he averaged 12.2 points per game. No, instead, remember the days when Roy was nearly unstoppable.

Bring back to memory his mid-range game and slashing ability that made him a nightmare to defenses across the NBA. Shed light on that "sneaky speed" that made him an unpredictable offensive force.

And who could forget that final playoff stint where he dropped 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to give Portland a much-needed win over the soon-to-be NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks?

That's the Roy I remember—the one who put the Trail Blazers on his back and led them to three consecutive playoff appearances, NOT the one who was plagued by knee injuries.

I wish, I wish, I wish I ran into him somewhere in the streets of Brooklyn, just so I could hound him down and ask him some questions. You know, pick his brain for his real reasons for retiring.

"Look at Grant Hill," I'd tell him. "He's going on 87 and still pushing in the NBA. And he had WORSE injuries than you!"

But I digress as I come back to reality—a sad, sad reality—and must come to terms with the fact that the NBA has lost one of it's brightest stars.

The Blazers BETTER retire his jersey in honor of all the good he's done their organization.

It's not often that you run into a quality person—forget basketball, this is a genuinely... genuine human being—and a standout professional like Brandon Roy. My only hope is that Portland—both the franchise and the city—doesn't forget all that he's given...his future mobility.

So from one die hard, loyal Portland Trail Blazers fan, Thank You Brandon Roy for sacrificing that beloved cartilage in your kneecaps for the better of the team.

Maybe we'll see you back in a Blazers jersey in the near future, or maybe (just maybe) we'll see you in a managerial position like the GM that Portland needs so badly. 

But until that day comes, so long and farewell, Brandon Roy. May your name stay enshrined in Rip City history until the end of time.

Kristian Winfield is a Featured Columnist on the Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @KWSports .