Greg Oden has come to realize just how his legacy will be viewed as an NBA player, and it isn’t good. Admitting his basketball-playing days are now officially behind him, Oden is coming to grips with knowing how his career will be viewed for years by historians of the game.
“I’ll be remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history,” Oden told Outside the Lines. “But I can’t do nothing about that.”
It’s true. Oden was drafted with the top overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft after one season at Ohio State. The Portland Trail Blazers selected the big man but had to wait for him to even make his NBA debut. Microfracture surgery on his right knee put Oden on the shelf for his entire first season. He left his NBA debut the following season early with a foot injury and later injured his left knee in a game. The following season saw Oden once again go under the knife early in the season, this time on his left knee after being taken off the court on a stretcher. Injuries plagued Oden in the NBA and made it difficult for him to ever live up to the hype that came with being the top overall pick.
Considering Oden was taken with the top pick in a draft that also produced Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol, it is easy to see why Oden would be considered a bust. Oden told Outside the Lines that Durant’s success only worsens his bust status.
The biggest bust in NBA history? Well, it may not even be the biggest draft mistake the Trail Blazers ever made. They did, after all, draft Sam Bowie with the second overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, leaving a guy named Michael Jordan on the board for the Chicago Bulls. Charles Barkley went two picks later.
So at least Oden has that going for him, right?
[ESPN]