Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy is one of the players signed up as an "NBA FIT team member'' for the league's first-ever week dedicated to stressing healthy living and physical fitness. Among the programs, tips and reminders in evidence in arenas and online this week, several players -- including Roy Saturday in Portland -- are hosting youth clinics to help motivate and educate kids about getting and staying healthy.
Or maybe we should phrase that as getting and staying fit. The way things have gone for the oft-injured Blazers this season, their players probably aren't the best choices to be giving lectures on good health. That's one topic we raised with Roy in a phone conversation this week:
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NBA.com: Basketball's hard, but convincing kids to get off the couch or push away from the computer has to be an even tougher task, doesn't it?
Brandon Roy: It's hard to kick some of those habits, but I just share my experience: I try to make sure I'm feeling good, and the way to do that best is to make sure I'm exercising. I do a number of things -- it's not just in the weight room. I run hills, I ride bikes, I like to swim. So there are always things that you can find if you just think, 'What do I like to do?' Then make an exercise of it.
NBA.com: When you were a kid, did you do the typical stuff?
BR: I played basketball, football and baseball. I think the only sport that would shock people is, I did karate. I don't know if my parents did it on purpose but I was involved in everything. Me, I just thought it was normal -- I thought every kid did all that stuff. I had an older brother and I just tagged along with him and played everything he played. There were times I even played in his division, even though he was two years older. I was just a competitive kid and I loved to play.
NBA.com: Karate?
BR: I was really good. I did it for about two years, and in my age group, I won a majority of all the trophies. My dad would work on Saturday mornings and he'd say, 'Make sure you win first place for me,' and I'd come home with a big trophy, really excited. I was more athletic than a lot of the kids, and then I was bigger and faster. I think that gave me a little advantage.
NBA.com: Did you have the sedentary stuff, the video games, the computer?
BR: Yeah, I had that. But it's funny, when I look at kids now, I try to guess which comes first: Playing outside or playing video games. For me, video games were mainly for nighttime and when Mom wouldn't let me go outside. If it was raining or too cold and I had to stay indoors. But if I could actually go outside and play football, then I was out there. If I could go out and play basketball, that's what I did.
NBA.com: Now a lot of kids won't budge.
BR: We didn't really have the Internet to the level that these kids do now. Some of my buddies, they just sit on the computer all day now. That's what I like about having this camp, the chance to tell kids "It's OK to be on the Internet, but break your day up wisely. Go outside and exercise, too.'' The problem is, unless they exercise and eat right, it's hard to explain how good they'll feel. I just feel better when I'm doing that. Maybe once these kids see "oh, Brandon Roy does it'' or some of these other players trying to reach out, they'll give it a chance.
NBA.com: Do you tell them it's about more than burning calories and keeping their weight down?
BR: Kids need to know that they might learn more in class if they exercise, if they drink more water at breaks. I know when I was in high school, I would exercise but then I would drink soda and eat McDonald's -- I loved it, but at the same time, it's been proven that when kids eat better and get a good breakfast, they learn more throughout the day.
NBA.com: Whoa, whoa, whoa. There are plenty of guys in the league who subsist on junk food. We both know that.
BR (laughing): Yes there are. One of my best friends on the team, Travis Outlaw, I've been trying to get him off fast food since I've been in the league. He loves it. I tell him, "Just pick your spots.'' There are times in the summer when I'll eat it. "But right now,'' I tell him, "we need you to eat the good foods and stay healthy.'' It's so day-to-day. It's a challenging league. You might eat fast food today and you won't feel the effects until two weeks later. Eight-two games, eight preseason games, you can get over 100 if you make the playoffs, and you've got to give yourself every chance you can to get an edge.
NBA.com: I'm guessing it's easier to sell kids on physical activity that involves games and competition. How do you convince people that grinding on a treadmill or an elliptical or lifting weights can be fun?
BR: But that's like people telling me "Aw, it's easy for you to work out. It's your job.'' My dad drove a bus in Seattle for 22 years and, even then, he would take two or three days a week when he would go to the YMCA and just work out. When he stopped working, he asked me what else he could do to keep his weight down. I said, "You still like playing basketball?'' He said, "Yeah.'' I said, "Then go play hoops.'' He's in a couple 40-and-over leagues. He works on finding things that make him happy out there playing. Now he'll call me before my games, saying, "B, I've got a game. You got some advice for me?'' It feels great because I know he's happy. He's working out. Then, even when he sprained an ankle, he kept at it. The hardest part about exercising is beginning. Once it becomes repetition, it becomes easier and it becomes part of your schedule.
NBA.com: OK, you raised the issue of injuries. Tell me what's going on with the Blazers, with so many guys getting hurt. Is there something in the water up there? Are the salmon blowing out their knees these days too?
BR: Honestly, it's the weirdest thing I've ever been a part of. We had a game in L.A. the other day and I'm sitting there thinking of the guys we left back home: Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Przybilla, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake. I've never seen a team, since I've been in the NBA, lose that many guys. Especially a team that had so much potential. But it's the hand we've been dealt and we've got to do our best to play hard and give the fans something to cheer about.
NBA.com: Are people treating all these injuries as isolated mishaps or are there dots we can connect?
BR: It's bad luck. Steve Blake had shoulder surgery and it was something that was lingering from last season. The same goes for Nicolas Batum -- I think he was hurting from playing with his national team and he banged it up again. There's no way you can connect the dots on these. We've had everything from shoulder surgery to kneecaps to stress fractures in the foot. Patty Mills' first day with the team [in December], he had a stress fracture. So I know it wasn't our workout. I think it's just bad luck. Hopefully it makes for great luck next year.
NBA.com: Hopefully. But the exception might be Oden, whose injuries have been frequent and severe enough to raise doubts about his future. Will his body allow him to be the player he might have been?
BR: I know, [those questions] come with the territory. Fans have their concerns but as teammates, we have to look at the bright side of things. I've got to expect him to come back healthier and stronger. I had some injuries early in my career and people had some worries, but I didn't let it bother me. You have to work harder, you have to get stronger and, really, you have to leave it up to God. That's what I told Greg: "You didn't ask for this injury, man. It just happened. All you can do is keep giving yourself a chance.'' I just want to push him to come back stronger. He's just 21 years old. I told him, "Greg, you can still have a great career and one day they won't bring this up. But you've got to want it.'' And have a little bit of good luck.
NBA.com: Have you learned more about Sam Bowie than you'd ever care to know?
BR: I've heard about him, but I haven't paid much attention to the talk.
NBA.com: How big a difference did it make when Oden was available and playing well?
BR: Huge. The first couple of years when we played without him, we built a rhythm and a chemistry. But you need that dominant center in the paint. He makes games so much easier. Now, playing without him for the last 15, 16 games, I'm out there banging, taking charges. We're all trying to do so much to help out our big men inside. When he was playing, he took a lot of pressure off a lot of guys. Our defense was better. Going into games, we had a little more confidence. So it has been tough.
NBA.com: As far as injuries, there were teams that had questions about your long-term health when you came out in 2006. For instance, you and I might be talking face-to-face in Minnesota instead of doing this on the phone, but the Timberwolves were scared off by medical reports. So they picked you but immediately traded your rights for Randy Foye and $1 million.
BR: There was a question Minnesota had about one of my knees. They red-flagged me. I heard those things, but for me, it was "Hey, the team that takes me is going to get a good player.'' Everyone wants longevity in this league. I continued to work to try to prove people wrong. It was completely understandable to me, because you do pay players a lot of money and you want them healthy. But I felt I'd been playing with things [most of my] basketball career, and I wasn't going to take [good health] lightly.
NBA.com: You've had a great individual run lately. [Roy scored 23 points or more in a franchise-best 15 consecutive games from Dec. 1 to Jan. 2.] Is that a function of trying to do more with other guys out?
BR: Definitely. I've had some good things happen, as far as the All-Star team and getting a good contract [extension], but I measure myself on wins and losses. When Greg was playing, when we had our full roster, I think I was only averaging 20 points. That was fine. After that, I had to up the scoring.
NBA.com: How have you kept the "survivors'' on your team from mentally losing focus or using the injuries as an excuse to waste this season?
BR: My thing is to keep the guys motivated. They still have a lot ot play for. When I'm talking to Jeff Pendergraph or Dante Cunningham, I'm like, "It's opportunity. Use it to make your name in this league.'' If people are motivated in a competitive way, they can stay positive and keep their heads up. With LaMarcus Aldridge, it's to become an All-Star. I try to find little carrots for them. Because one man's pain is another man's gain. But you have to make it your gain.
NBA.com: Do me a favor: Tell Jay Jensen that it's never a good thing when the team trainer is a celebrity.
BR: (laughing): I'll tell him. You're right.
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