Brandon Roy stunned the world when he announced his retirement before the season started.  We all knew he had bad knees but he’s still really young and everyone assumed he would work through it.  Although that wasn’t the case we may not have seen the last of Roy.  Read more after the jump.

@Shay_Marie x @gametimegirl

When Brandon Roy announced his retirement in December, Jamal Crawford was stunned. The two guards have been best friends for years after meeting as teenagers in Seattle. While Crawford knew all about Roy’s knee injuries, he didn’t think the 27-year-old would be forced to walk away from the game, especially considering how great he looked all summer.

Crawford and Roy trained together during the offseason and spoke on a daily basis. Roy lacked cartilage between the bones in both of his knees, but he was looking good and dominating pick-up games.

“It was so weird for us when Brandon said that he was going to retire because he had looked so good in the summer,” Crawford told HOOPSWORLD. “If you just walked into the gym and hadn’t heard anything about his knees, you would’ve said, ‘I see why he’s a three-time All-Star.’ He looked that good.”

When the lockout ended, Roy reported to the Portland Trail Blazers and took a physical with team doctors. They warned him that his knees would only get worse, possibly affecting his quality of life. While Roy felt like he could still play at an NBA-level, he didn’t walk to spend the rest of his life struggling to walk or unable to play with his children. He retired right before the Blazers started training camp.

“When it came time for him to take his physical, we were all shocked,” Crawford said. “We couldn’t physically see inside of his knees, we just saw him working out and playing well. When he told us that he was going to retire, it was pretty surprising.”

In recent months, Roy has returned to the court. He is working out and rumors of an NBA comeback have already started to surface. Sources close to Roy say that he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning to the NBA next season. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Crawford won’t be surprised if Roy decides to unretired.

“I know that he still loves the game,” Crawford said. “I know that he’s still working out and playing. I would never say never. Brandon is still a young guy. He’s only 27 years old. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him come back. You never know.”

HOOPSWORLD