Isaiah Roby, then a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Getty
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - APRIL 02: Isaiah Roby #22 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball against the Phoenix Suns during the NBA game at Phoenix Suns Arena on April 02, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Thunder 140-103. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Having acquired him halfway through his rookie season from the Dallas Mavericks in nothing more than a salary-dump deal, the Oklahoma City Thunder were Isaiah Roby’s NBA team for more than two and a half years.
The Mavericks had acquired Roby’s rights on Draft Night 2019 from the Detroit Pistons and signed him to a four-year contract, but then never played him. The Thunder, however, did. After playing only 11 NBA minutes in his rookie season, Roby became a member of the Thunder’s rotation in his second season, and then finished his season as a full starter.
Roby started 23 of the Thunder’s final 27 games during the 2021-22 regular season, and averaged 10.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in 21,1 minutes per game overall. He shot 51.4% from the field and 44.4% from three-point range, and looked to potentially be a part of the future. He had size, skill, defensive range and a quality jump shot.
And then, he was cut.
Isaiah Roby, Mostly Forgotten Starter
From starter to off the team altogether, Roby’s tenure with the Thunder ended surprisingly quickly. But a piece of meme content keeps his name attached the franchise.
For the final few games of the 2022-23 season, the Thunder were unashamedly throwing in the towel. With all due respect to his high talent level, Roby was starting for a reason, and that reason was not a playoff push. It got to the point that he, Zavier Simpson, Georgios Kalaitzakis, Jaylen****Hoard and Vit Krejcistarted the final four games of the year, playing almost every minute of them – and even won one.
None of those players are with the Thunder any more. Indeed, only Krejci (currently with the Atlanta Hawks) is still in the NBA. Kalaitzakis was in his only NBA season before returning to his native Greece, Simpson was a G League star who only played seven more NBA games in a similar tank job for the Memphis Grizzlies two years later, and Hoard was playing his third and final NBA season.
It was a tank. And it worked.
Steve Helwick
The Thunder did it for them
Thunder Then Vs Thunder Now
This unsubtle act of tanking was a successful ploy to win big in the lottery.
As a result of all that losing, the Thunder secured the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, and were able to select Chet Holmgren. Holmgren now starts for the Thunder at centre, not Roby. And the stark juxtaposition between the two makes for a fun meme, one that Roby is now requesting people stop tagging him in.
Isaiah Roby
Man I’m Happy for OKC making the Finals fr…great team and organization, they deserve it!
The growth has been amazing to watch…Can we retire the 2022 end of year starting lineup pic now? 😂 stop tagging me
After being cut by the Thunder, Roby’s NBA career did not last much longer. He was claimed off waivers by the San Antonio Spurs and spent the majority of the 2022-23 season with them, but after being waived again – and a short run with the New York Knicks – he left the NBA, and is now currently playing in Germany with Ratiopharm Ulm.
The legacy, though, lives on. Isaiah Roby was a good NBA player who profited from fortuitous circumstances at the price of slight ridicule a few years later. He walked so that Chet Holmgren could run.
The Thunder – who are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012 having comfortably beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the Western Conference Finals – are four wins away from their first-ever NBA championship. If they pull it off, give all five members of that that April 2022 starting line-up a ring.