Former Thunder guard Andre Roberson practicing with the OKC Blue

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Andre Roberson in the first round, trading for the 26th overall pick with the Minnesota Timberwolves to nab the Colorado stopper who racked up two All-Pac-12 defensive team honors and a Pac-12 defensive player of the year.

That defense translated to the NBA game where he was named to the 2016-17 All-NBA Defensive team. For his career, Roberson averaged a steal and nearly a block per game with his high marks being in that 16-17 season that saw the OKC Thunder wing swiping a steal and swatting a block per tilt.

The Former Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson, who has seen his career derailed by injuries, is back practicing with the organization’s G-League affiliate the OKC Blue

Andre Roberson played seven seasons in the NBA, six of which came in Oklahoma City with just a five-game stint in Brooklyn on a ten-day contract making him a non-Thunder lifer. Roberson saw the highest of highs and lowest of lows in his OKC career.

From locking down stars such as James Harden, to his offensive game which was under heavy criticism, and a devastating leg injury during the 2017-18 season that derailed his career and the Thunder season just as they both were hitting their stride.

Since that dreadful injury in Detriot, Andre Roberson has played in 12 total NBA games. Roberson has been out of basketball since March 3rd, 2021 when he played 14 minutes for the Nets against the Houston Rockets.

Now, the former lockdown wing has returned to Bricktown, a team spokesperson told me he is practicing with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G-League affiliate. This prompted me to ask Kameron Woods, the Blue head coach, about this experience.

First-year OKC Blue head coach Kameron Woods said of Andre Roberson practicing with the team “He is great in a lot of areas [Defense] is defensively one of them. One of the things we always tell our team is ‘we want to grow through experiences’ and [Andre Roberson] definitely has a ton of them. He adds to the environment, he is a guy that pushes our culture forward and has been in a lot of wars with us. He is the type to lace them up and help us compete and help these guys, and help himself.”

After Woods explained the impact Andre Roberson has on the practice floor, I asked the Blue head coach if Roberson has expressed any desire to return to the NBA or G-League “we haven’t really talked about that, to be honest with you.”

Do not race out and think this is the start of Roberson’s epic comeback tour, while his goal might be to return to the league this also is a pathway to get into coaching from a player development standpoint on the sidelines. We will see what route the 6’7 forward ultimately takes.