Lawrence North graduate Greg Oden has struggled with an injury-riddled NBA career, spending more time in street-clothes than contributing on the floor.
After one season at Ohio State, Oden left for the NBA and was drafted No. 1, ahead of Kevin Durant, by the Portland Trail Blazers. Injuries were new to Oden, who reportedly never even missed a practice while in high school. He later battled a wrist injury in college, but nothing to serious.
Then, everything turned dark fast.
First his right knee, then the left. He’s had some minor arthroscopic operations, and serious microfracture surgeries, on both knees, multiple times.
Oden, 24, hasn’t appeared in a game since Dec. 5, 2009 and he’s missed over 79-percent (312/394) of his games since coming to the league.
Late in the season, Oden was waived by Portland, making him a free agent for the first time. In a recent article on Grantland by his former AAU and college teammate Mark Titus, he admitted that he drank too much while injured and that he felt rushed back too many times.
“Right now, his plan is to take off the entire 2012-13 season, move back to Columbus, take all the time he needs to rehab his knee back to full strength, and continue working toward the degree that he abandoned after one year at Ohio State,” Titus wrote of Oden in May.
“Once he feels ready, he plans to sign with an NBA team in 2013 and (hopefully) string together a few years of injury-free basketball. No NBA player has ever returned from three microfracture surgeries, so there’s no denying that the odds are against him.”
The 7-footer, may have a change of heart and try to return this year, according to Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida who spoke with his agent Mike Conley Sr.
“(Oden) called me, and he was kind of excited,” Conley Sr. told Tomasson. “I think he’s motivated… He wants to play. He had said he wanted to take this season off but he’s backed off from that… He’s open to playing this season. I think he will play this season. He’s starting to work out. He’s excited. You can tell he’s getting antsy. At the end of the day, I want him to finish out his NBA career.”
Seven teams have already reached out to Conley, but he said they won’t engage in negotiations until fall. “We want to get to the point where he’s more healthy and can show teams what he can do.” Indiana, I’m told, is one of those teams.
Just 24, Oden has time to rehab his knees. However, he’s gone under the scope an unprecedented number of times and at some point, they are going to beg for no more.
He dominated in high school and many thought he would be the next great big man in the NBA. Let’s hope he doesn’t rush back too soon here, in hopes of at least playing a few good years.
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