Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Andre Roberson played on Friday for the first time in 909 days.

As expected, he was very emotional postgame.

At one point, it looked like Roberson's NBA career was over. He had terrible luck in his recovery from a ruptured left patellar tendon he suffered during the 2017-18 campaign, as the Thunder swingman sustained two setbacks in his left knee last season.

However, Roberson never gave up and continued to work hard despite all the negative noise the media was spewing.

In 295 games with the Thunder, Roberson has career averages of 4.6 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 48.2 percent from the field, 25.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 46.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Before he got hurt in 2017-18, Roberson was one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He made the 2017 All-Defensive team and was rewarded by the Thunder with a three-year, $30 million deal prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign.

Once the 2020 playoffs start after the conclusion of the eight seeding games, the Thunder will ultimately go as far as Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari can lead the team offensively. Roberson, though, can help OKC on the defensive side of the ball with his length and high IQ of the game.