Greg Oden recalls his devastating injuries: 'A healthy Oden would be a decent player' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AP, USA Today Sports – Scanpix Credit AP, USA Today Sports – Scanpix

The No. 1 pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, Greg Oden, sat down with Christos Tsaltas of SDNA.gr to talk about what severe injuries have taken away from him.

Greg Oden

Position:CAge:34Height:213 cmWeight:129 kgBirth place:Buffalo, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Oden's case is a prime example of how persistence and hard work are not enough when luck has decided to turn its back on you.

The Portland Trail Blazers decided to select Oden over Kevin Durant in 2007, unfortunately, the 2.13-meter (7-foot) big man failed to live up to expectations and ended up as one of the biggest busts in league history.

And everything due to multiple knee injuries and the followed surgeries. The trio of LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, and Greg Oden looked very promising back in the day but never fulfilled the Blazers' hopes.

"If we were all healthy maybe the results would have been different and the choices in the draft would have been different as well," the current Butler University Bulldogs' director of basketball operations told SDNA during a visit in Greece.

That big 'what if' still follows the 34-year-old until this day: "I would definitely love to play with Damian Lillard. LaMarcus and Brandon were tremendously talented in our time.

In Greece, I also met Rudy Fernandez and we reminisced about our days in Portland. Extremely talented, but even better people outside the court," Oden said.

Throughout the five years he stayed with the Trail Blazers, he managed to compete in just 1.5 seasons, playing 82 games in total.

And just as he started to show his true self, another injury came to slow him down. One more and one more. And another one. Like a vicious circle. Until his knees couldn't take the weight and pressure anymore.

"Over the years I was very worried about my knees. Too much I would say. I've had over 5 knee surgeries and pretty serious ones. I tried to come back, but my knees couldn't take it and I left it behind," he admitted, going back in time for a bit.

"There were some moments in the NBA when I started to find what my prime is as a player. Then came the serious injury that destroyed my knee and I was never able to be the player that I started to become in my 2nd and 3rd season in Portland," Oden emphasized when asked when he felt he reached his prime.

"Looking back, my prime was probably college," he added with a smile.

'What kind of a player Oden could be if he had been healthy?' - a question that was a hot discussion topic in the USA for years.

"A healthy Greg Oden would be a decent player! That's how I see it. I would say consistent, but that hasn't happened because of my injuries," said the Ohio State University product.

With the game of basketball changing, Oden knows well that things would be different for him too in nowadays play.

"I would have to expand my game in many areas. I would work on my ball handling even more and shoot 3-pointers because all the tall guys shoot from the long range now," he pointed out.

Greg Oden's career ended in 2016, at the age of 28. He missed four entire seasons during his 7-year NBA tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers (2007-12) and Miami Heat (2013-14).

Oden holds NBA career averages of 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in just 105 games.

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