Greg Oden Discusses Injury-Plauged Career

[Built Ford Tough]

Great article from Grantland's Mark Titus. It was published yesterday, so some of you may have read it already, but for those of you who haven't I definitely suggest taking the time to read it.

 

Greg: "So what is this article going to be about?"

 

Me: "Well, my goal is to humanize you and give people an idea of what the last five years have been like for you. You might not realize it, but you're one of the biggest enigmas in the NBA. Because of your injuries, most fans haven't seen you play. And since you never do interviews, they don't know anything about you off the court either."

 

Greg: "I know. And that's the way I like it."

 

It's hard to believe you could say this about a former no. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft who also had naked pictures of himself leaked onto the Internet, but Greg Oden is as private a person as I've ever known.

 

Our friendship dates back to the summer of 2001, when I joined Greg's AAU team shortly before we both entered eighth grade. My previous AAU team was comprised of a bunch of kids who were like me: upper middle class white guys from the Indianapolis suburbs. Greg's AAU team, on the other hand, was almost exclusively made up of black guys from the city. Because of this, as I entered the gym for my first practice, I felt as out of place as Christian Laettner on the Dream Team and wondered if I'd ever fit in. But it only took five minutes for this uneasiness to subside. Why? Because I realized that the tall, goofy-looking kid wearing Rec-Specs and shooting by himself on the side basket was just as shy as I was.

 

Since he was the only other introvert on the team, Greg and I immediately hit it off. On road trips, when the rest of our team would go out at night and do exactly what you would expect teenage boys who are visiting new cities to do, Greg and I would typically stay in our hotel room and watch TV, quote Will Ferrell movies, or discuss Laguna Beach. As we got older, I stopped growing, somehow became less athletic, and transformed into the scrub benchwarmer that I'm known for being today. Meanwhile, Greg ditched the Rec-Specs, figured out how to run without tripping over his own feet, and transformed into the best high school big man since Lew Alcindor. Yet despite the attention that accompanied being one of the most sought-after college recruits ever, Greg never really stopped being that goofy eighth grader who shied away from attention and just wanted to play ball.

 

And now, with his career in limbo after all that's happened to him, he's the same guy today. Last month, we met for dinner in downtown Indianapolis, just a few weeks after the Portland Trail Blazers released him to create a roster spot after trading Gerald Wallace to New Jersey. I hadn't seen Greg in a few months and I was surprised to hear that, after a record three microfracture surgeries and 338 missed games in five years, he was considering walking away from basketball completely. But he didn't seem depressed at dinner. He was just … Greg. For instance, as we were finishing our meal, three separate groups of fans approached him and asked for autographs and pictures. Like always, he granted their requests with an annoyed expression, didn't say any more than three words to anyone, and then shook his head as they walked away.

 

"You're a fun-loving guy with a ton of personality," I said. "So why do you hate it so much when people approach you in public? Why don't you let your personality shine through and smile when you take pictures with fans?"

 

"Because I don't understand why they are so excited to meet me," Greg responded. "I'm just a person. I guess I didn't really mind it when I was at Ohio State and even right after I was drafted, but it just seems so fake now. Like, why are you bothering me at dinner for a picture when I'm nothing now?"

 

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7908766/a-rare-interview-former-no-1-overall-pick-greg-oden-injury-plagued-career

 

I really do hope he can manage to make a comeback.

 

It is a good decision to take the entire 2012-13 season off in order to try for one last comeback. Take your time and make sure you are fully ready, both mentally and physically, and don't rush anything. With no teammates or fans to let down or anything like that, he shouldn't feel nearly as much pressure to come back as he did in the past when under contract with Portland.

 

He will never be able to live up to the hype he had follow him for basically his entire life, but hopefully he can carve out a niche as a defensive minded backup center or something. If he can't, I hope he is able to find something else to do that will make him happy.

[EastCoastNiner]

I'll look at it in a little while, but if it's the same article I read earlier, Greg Oden comes off as a complete douche-bag who blames everyone else for his problems.

[EastCoastNiner]

And, it is the same article I read earlier. I felt bad for him before because of his injuries, but with quotes and actions like these, he's going to lose respect from a lot of people.

 

 

"For starters, Portland isn't a great city to live in if you're a young, African American male with a lot of money," Oden said. "But that's especially true if you don't have anybody to guide you. Since I was hurt the entire season, I was on my own a bunch and didn't have veteran teammates around to help me adapt to the NBA lifestyle."

 

 

Oden also had his cousin from the Air Force move in with him, which led to an issue with alcohol.

 

"If you know anything about guys in the Air Force," Oden explained, "it's that they drink a ton. My cousin got wrapped up in the NBA lifestyle and threw parties at my house all the time. So I got wrapped up in it too. When I played well, I'd drink to celebrate. And when I played poorly, I'd drink to forget. That second year in Portland I pretty much became an alcoholic."

 

 

Let me blame everyone else for everything that has happened to me. Let me blame other people for my drinking problems.

 

Get real.

[Built Ford Tough]

I'll look at it in a little while, but if it's the same article I read earlier, Greg Oden comes off as a complete douche-bag who blames everyone else for his problems.

 

It probably is.

 

I wouldn't really say that he is a douche who blames everybody. It seems to me more like he is a young man who has his career and, basically, his life ripped away from him, turned to drinking and possibly even drugs, became depressed and then that depression led to a paranoia that sort of took over and controlled him for a while.

 

I'm not trying to take away all the blame from him because he is certainly at fault for the choices he made and his actions. I can understand what would make him make these choices, though, considering basketball was basically his life since he was 13 years old and to have that ripped away from you at such a young age, in addition to all of the personal tragedies he suffered, well, that will take a toll on anybody.

 

He does say some douche things, like the ones you quoted in your second post, but I think that is as much of a reflection of his mental state during that point in his life than anything else. If you heard or read stuff he said before all these injuries and crap happened, or listened to people who knew him, it all seemed very genuine. Who knows, though, maybe it was a cover up all along? I highly doubt it, though.

[EastCoastNiner]

I always liked Oden, and want him to have a good career, but he should take responsibility for things like his drinking habits. I understand how it would suck to have those injuries, and would understand him being pissed about it, but not some other things like having no "veteran leadership" on the team or whatever he said.

[Flash]

I hope we take a flyer on him when he comes back.

[Built Ford Tough]

I always liked Oden, and want him to have a good career, but he should take responsibility for things like his drinking habits. I understand how it would suck to have those injuries, and would understand him being pissed about it, but not some other things like having no "veteran leadership" on the team or whatever he said.

 

Well, there is always talk about how young teams need experienced role players on the floor in order to show them the ropes, how to behave themselves and things like that. Doesn't the same thing apply to off the court stuff as well?

 

Remember, these are 19-20 year old kids, some of which were poor growing up and lived in bad neigborhoods (not saying they apply in Oden's case, because as far as I know they don't) who are suddenly thrust under a microscope and given millions of dollars. For many of them, they've only been away from home for a year and are still adjusting to living on their own and in a new place. I could understand the temptation and having a guy to show you the ropes would be beneficial on the court, but even more so off of it.

 

I do agree that he seems to be using it as an excuse and is placing the blame on external factors instead of on himself, which I don't agree with as I do believe it is his fault first and foremost, but I can also understand where he is coming from.

[Lemon]

I hope we take a flyer on him when he comes back.

 

If you guys took curry then you guys will definitely try to get this guy. Barring injuries, oden is the best center in the league so when he comes back , his top priority will be medical staff. unfortunately, he'll never have the same potential he had coming straight out of college, but many teams will take a chance on any skilled seven footer.

[DunkinDerozan]

He kind of seems like the type of personality I wouldn't want in the dressing room. I feel bad for him and all that his career has pretty much been ripped away from him, but judging by the way he talks, I don't see him having the motivation to put together any kind of a decent NBA career together.

[TheNotoriousBANG]

i bet juwon howard plays more minutes than this always injured alcoholic bum