By the way he’s playing now, it would be hard to know what Terry Roberts has been through.
“Just grateful to be here. Grateful to be playing basketball. Going into every day with a chip, knowing it could’ve been different,” Roberts said at the first day of Winnipeg Sea Bears training camp.
In February 2024, Roberts was struck by a stray bullet outside a bar in Philadelphia.
The strike left him in critical condition, with a chest wound and relying on a ventilator.
“My recovery was quick. A lot quicker than what the doctors thought,” Roberts said.
The 24-year-old was was determined to get back on the court playing the sport he loves.
“I have a lot of things I want to accomplish. So I was just thinking of that the whole time during my recovery. That really fuelled me to get back as quick as I did,” Roberts said.
Prior to his injury, Roberts led the University of Georgia Bulldogs in points. Then he turned professional.
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He played a season with the Long Island Nets, part of the NBA G League, before he got shot. Roberts made a miraculous, full recovery before returning to the Long Island Nets this last season.
He signed with the Sea Bears on May 1.
“Terry is an athletic guard, he plays both ends, he reads the game well, he made a fantastic first impression as a great teammate and really coachable,” Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor said after the first practice of training camp.
Meanwhile back in New York, Roberts’ home state, his parents, Terrance and Allison, beam when talking about him.
“There’s so many things, like my wife was saying to you, that happened along the journey, but it just shows what dedication and true love for something will do,” Terrence said.
His parents are amazed by his resilience and looking forward to watching him in Winnipeg.
“His injury, if it would’ve been an inch more, he could’ve even been paralyzed, or it could’ve been fatal,” Allison said. “Everybody just kept saying he was a miracle.”
As for Roberts, he has high hopes in the CEBL this season.
“Just coming in every day with the same mindset of getting better, being a great teammate,” Roberts said.
And playing every game as if it’s his last, even with a bullet still inside him.
The Sea Bears season opener is Friday, May 16 at Canada Life Centre.
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