Roy impresses almost everyone as top rookie

In Brandon Roy's grand new life, controversy comes only with extreme triviality.

He's now the NBA Rookie of the Year, overwhelmingly so, a winner with a 99.21875 percent approval rating. An astounding 127 of 128 media voters dubbed him the chief rook, and this is where the story gets comically contentious.

The lone dissenter: Toronto play-by-play announcer Chuck Swirsky.

He voted for Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani.

What a homer!

The same Swirsky who grew up in the Seattle area.

What a traitor!

"I think the fact that he was a Seattle guy hurt me more than anything," Roy said, laughing. "Maybe when I'm 45 or 50, I'll look back and that'll matter to me, but not so much right now. I just hate that it was a Seattle guy that kind of stabbed me in the back a little bit."

Roy laughed again. He's still the humble young player who developed over four years at Washington. He's also the new poster child for staying in school, the first four-year college player to win this award since Tim Duncan claimed it nine years ago. And Roy is the first ROY with a Husky heritage.

But that's where the firsts stop. Swirsky denied him the honor of being the first unanimous noble of the newcomers since David Robinson 17 years ago.

Cue the outrage. As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Swirsky said he had received about 350 e-mails on his choice. He has been honest about it since sending in his ballot, but being revealed as the only differing voter triggered the ire of Portland and Roy fans.

"I've gotten a lot of people saying, 'Are you out of your mind?' " Swirsky said, admitting to some generous editing of the remarks. "But some have said, 'We appreciate your honesty.' A little of this, a little of that.

"If you're asking me, 'Can I sleep at night?' Yeah, I can sleep at night."

Swirsky's case for Bargnani over Roy? He believes Bargnani would've produced similar statistics if he were playing for a losing team instead of a playoff squad. He points out that Bargnani, who averaged five fewer points than Roy, also took four fewer shots per game and played 10 fewer minutes. Swirsky is a Roy fan, but he valued being the No. 4 option on a winning team over being the No. 2 option (and often the primary playmaker) on a lottery-bound team.

Mind you, this is the logic of a man who admits to voting for independent John Anderson in the 1980 president election.

"Everybody said, 'Why did you do that?'" Swirsky recalled. "I believed in him."

He believed in Bargnani, too. But this was Roy's year and rightfully so. Falling one measly vote shy of a rare dominance is nice to scrutinize, but it's like having one person proclaim Matt Damon a better actor than Tom Hanks.

The choir is singing too loudly to hear anything else. It's singing Roy's song.

"I think it'll change people's perception of me, but I'll still be the same Brandon Roy," Roy said of winning this award. "That's what got me to this level."

Coach Nate McMillan called Wednesday morning to inform Roy of the news. Roy didn't answer his cellphone, but when he checked his message, he heard words he'll never forget.

"I want to be the first to congratulate you on being the Rookie of the Year," McMillan said on the recording.

Roy figured it was an ideal way to get the news. McMillan, who became a Seattle guy during his 19 years with the Sonics organization, was the coach who let him play with such freedom, who knew him so well he "didn't change one thing about my game," Roy said.

"Coach made my transition smoother than any other rookie," Roy added.

Now Roy is ready for the next step. He understands the standard past top Rookies of the Year have set. His company includes the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal and Oscar Robertson.

Despite being the landslide winner, Roy played in only 57 games his rookie season. An early-season left heel injury kept him on the bench for 20 of those 25 missed games. Nevertheless, he accomplished much while averaging 16.8 points and four assists. You have to wonder what he could do with a good run of health. He wants to play in all 82 games next year, and there's some news that should cause no debate.

Without question, seeing more of Roy has to be a unanimous desire among basketball fans.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com.