The TRAGIC DOWNFALL Of Andre Roberson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ธ.ค. 2022
- In his heyday, Andre Roberson was possibly the best defender in the entire NBA. Clamping up the hottest offensive superstars, Roberson was a starter on a western conference finals team despite averaging a whole 4.8 points that season and infamously being incapable of hitting a jump shot.
Still, despite his limitations on the offensive end, he was an extremely valuable piece to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That is, until disaster struck and he literally disappeared from the league.
Many of you will be surprised if I showed you this footage of Andre in a Brooklyn Nets uniform from 2 seasons ago, and many are still wondering where he is and what happened to him?
The tragic downfall of Andre Roberson deserves a deeper look, and in this video, we’ll do just that. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
The loss of James Harden opened up a gigantic hole at the shooting guard position for the Thunder that they desperately tried to cover.
Thabo Sefalosha, a defensive minded guy who could hit a few shots here and there, was the team’s first attempt. Then there was Kevin Martin with his quirky release, a nice shooter actually.
Derek Fisher at the tail end of his career also spent some time in OKC.
Needless to say, none of these players were the perfect piece that superstars like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook needed for a championship.
This is how Roberson as well got a chance in 16 in the starting lineup as the 26th pick in the draft.
The Thunder were testing out players and although he started getting regular minutes towards the end of the season, for the playoffs they knew they needed the experienced guys to make a deep run. So Andre did not play any meaningful minutes in the postseason.
In his sophomore year however in 2014-15 he got much more playing time and started in 65 games. Unfortunately, this was mostly because of Kevin Durant’s injury that forced him to miss a large portion of the season, as well as some missed games by Westbrook.
Still, Roberson used the opportunity that was given to him to showcase his defensive potential and his overall willingness to do all the dirty work on the court.
Against Denver he would have a game with only 8 points but also 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks.
Or against Brooklyn when he scored only 4 points but dominated defensively with 2 steals and 4 blocks in just 21 minutes.
Despite barely missing out on the playoffs due to all those injuries, the Thunder sensed that they finally found the right starter to play along with Russ and KD.
One that would do all the screening, cutting, rebounding and especially defending the best player on the opposing team.
So that the 2 superstars can focus on what they do best- putting the ball in the basket.
And that’s exactly what happened in 2015-2016 as they both exploded.
Durant would get buckets on everyone and anyone. He was unguardable. Russ did everything and had 17 triple doubles that season, the beginning stages of the Westbrook supremacy that we know.
With all the attention on them, Andre Roberson had some of the easiest points of his career.
The Thunder would also run this action for him every single game. A misdirection pick and roll and with everyone focused on that, Andre cuts from the weak side for the alley oop dunk.
This was their bread and butter, as it offloaded the main guys, provided some points for a non shooter, and the fans absolutely loved it.
But that couldn’t mask the fact that Roberson struggled offensively.
As a career 25% three point shooter, that season he had some of the most wide open looks as everyone would double Russ and KD off of him. Even in this perfect scenario, he only slightly improved to 31%.
There were times when he would even pass up an open shot, so his teammates would get mad at him.
And the situation was even worse when it came to free throws.
Andre is a career 46.8% shooter from the foul line. An absolutely miserable percentage, that would mess with him so much that he would sometimes run around the court to avoid getting the hack a shaq treatment.
It was ugly watching his shooting woes.
But despite all of that, OKC still looked unstoppable that season. They got all the way to the brink of the finals and it took an iconic game, a superhuman effort from Klay Thompson in game 6, to deny them the chance to compete for a championship.
Shortly after, Durant infamously left and everything changed for this team.
This fully unlocked Russell Westbrook who went nuclear in that 2016-17 season and won the MVP. Seemingly it unlocked Andre Roberson as well, who played the best defense of his career and earned a spot on the second team all defense.
A lot of people think that there was a point where Roberson was up there with Kawhi Leonard as the best on ball defender in the league. But because of his quiet persona, he didn’t attract too much attention and didn’t get selected more often.
Can’t believe this guy is getting a video made about him but in his prime he could lockdown anyone. When I was at a Thunder game he signed a basketball card I had of him. He’s a cool dude
This dude really did fall off. He’s basically just Matisse Thybulle before Matisse Thybulle
Bro legit made a video about a role player 😭😭🤣
The league has gone almost completely focused on offense. That's the reason we had trouble against other countries in the Olympics. There is no room for defensive specialists here, sadly.
Tragic? Unfortunate.
Thank you for making videos about these guys who are so easily forgotten, they deserve it.
His shooting was atrociously bad. Thunder really should have waived him when he got injured the first time.
If you're going to be a D guy who shoots 46% from the line, you'd better be 7 feet tall.
Isn't this the same dude that locked tf outta Harden on 2016-17 playoffs?? Okc wouldve won the series if not for his ft shooting cuz I remember they were always up on the 4th but rockets would do the hack-a-roberson.
Making millions and playing what you love could never be a down fall
The 2017-18 OKC lineup of Westbrook, Roberson, PG13, Melo and Steven Adams went 14-0 with a Defensive Rating of around 96 before Andre got injured. They played so few games together, but couldn't be beaten when they did so. Without Roberson, their Defensive Rating slumped to around 114.
You've got some outstanding story-telling skill, Stef! Quite an emotional 8+ minutes for me. I do wish him all the best.
Energy guy and a true defense specialist. Reminds me of Gary Payton II and Bruce Brown, Dorts, Thybulle. With NBA though you have to develop multiple skills over the years. It's unfortunate how major injury could derailed players career like that of Jeremy Lin and Grant Hill. Injury can also diminish some players skills and athletism. It makes one look older than they really are once theyre back theyre never the same. The game involves some luck, opportunity and being top notch conditioned and management aside from the obvious taking care of their body.
Him, I.Thomas, Jeremy Lin, and Brandon Roy Will never be forgotten.😢
One of the best videos made. Reasons why is because this isn't about a top tier talent from the NBA, a forgotten all star, or even big personas.
Bro I COMPLETELY forgot about dude. Dude's defense was insane but that damn offense was atrocious 😭
OKC is quite the most heartbreaking team for me, because of the potential they could have been, Andre is one of those guys loved by us OKC fans especially in those solo Westbrook runs, Roberson really clamped the opposition's best player, feel sad for him
he shot 25% from 3pt and all those shots were wide open after an assist from his teammates. He couldnt create anything for himself and couldnt drive to the rim with the ball. Also shot less then 50% free throws. No matter how good you can play defense in todays game you are just a huge liability on the other side of the court and your team has to basically play 4vs5.
I remember watching that game vs the Pistons when Andre got injured, it feels like yesterday, and then when he came back after almost 2-3 years it was too late, I feel sorry for him.
It's really sad, I always liked him. To your point about defensive specialists. Look at Thybulle from the 6ers. I don't get it why he isn't playing more. I hope he finds a new team that could use him. Like the Hornets. They have no defense. Even in Portland he could be a solid piece. Would like to see him in a Spurs jersey as well one day. We could use him. Or the Magic.