FanHouse Talks to Brandon Roy

Will Brinson kicked it at The OC for the Nike Global Training Summit.

Even as his team was booted from the playoffs by the Houston Rockets, Brandon Roy recently received high praise from Ron Artest. Artest decided to give him the highest compliment possible, stating that Roy, not Kobe Bryant, was the toughest player he's ever had to guard.

And you best believe FanHouse (specifically my homie Elie Seckbach) was jumping on that question when Roy made an appearance at the Global Training Summit, sporting his customized B-Roy Trainer 1's. We also discuss his offseason plans, what the Blazers' goals are for next year and what he's doing in the offseason.

FanHouse: We gotta ask you -- Ron Artest said you're better than Kobe, what do you think about that?

Brandon Roy: "Nah, he didn't say I was better than Kobe -- he said I was the hardest guy he's ever guarded."

FH: You're the only guy to ever score 40 on him though, right?

Roy: "Yeah, so, for me that was a tremendous compliment. But that has nothing to do with me and Kobe head-to-head. Kobe does his thing, I'm a fan of what Kobe does. So, you know, great compliment by Ron Artest, but you'll have to ask him what he meant by it."

FH: You guys had a tremendous season, you went to the playoffs -- what can we expect from the Portland Trail Blazers next year?

Roy: "Well, our goal is to try and play for a championship next year. We feel like if we can add the right pieces this summer and continue to develop Greg [Oden] -- he's a big part of what we want to do -- and then with the guys that played well this year, to come back even better next year, we feel like we have the pieces to try and make a push for the championship. So we're going to set our goals that high and we're going to try and do everything we can to reach them."

FH: So what are you doing this summer now that you're not playing and not working out?

Roy: "Right now, just relaxing, spending time with family. Spending time with my two little ones and just trying to get as much time as I can because the season is long and you travel a lot, so, just trying to relax as much as possible and just mentally take my mind out of it for a little bit."

FH: Who's tougher to guard -- Kobe or LeBron?

Roy: "Just different ... they're both tough to guard. I can't say who's tougher, because I've had moments where -- Kobe he went for, I think my rookie year, 60-some points against us and LeBron went for 40. So I've had my work cut out for me against both of them, but they're just different. They're both dominant but in different ways."

FH: Channing Frye, Steve Blake and Joel Pryzbilla all practice martial arts in the offseason -- are you planning on joining them?

Roy: [Laughing] "Nah, I'm not going to join them. Maybe in the future, but not this summer."