Former Ohio State standout Greg Oden once looked like he was going to be the next great NBA center. However, injuries and a plethora of other issues plagued his NBA career, which he discussed in a detailed interview on Wednesday.
Oden was in the NBA for seven years but missed four years entirely due to devastating knee injuries. He discussed how his failed NBA career weighed on his mindset with The Ringer’s Mirin Fader on Wednesday.
“I just felt like a failure,” Oden told Fader. “I felt like I let a lot of people down. Letting Portland down, letting the whole entire staff and organization down. I felt like I let my family down and everybody who coached me and believed in me.”
He also detailed that these issues led to a number of personal problems like an addiction to painkillers and alcohol abuse. He even detailed that he was so ashamed that he constantly wore a hoodie to hide his face because he “felt like a loser”.
This is obviously incredibly sad, and many basketball fans took to social media to offer kind words to Oden.
https://twitter.com/qshironalbertie/status/1633549086392565760
https://twitter.com/mikejurecki/status/1633569467002392576
Luckily this story does have a happy ending. While Oden hated the game of basketball for a while, he began to finally embrace the knowledge that his NBA career has given him.
He was offered a job by his former college coach Thad Matta this past offseason, who now coaches the Butler Bulldogs. Oden seems to really be enjoying this assistant coaching gig, speaking on that later in the discussion with Fader.
“It’s fun. It’s hard. But I really do enjoy it,” said Greg Oden on his time thus far with Butler.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.