Greg Oden

Editor: Everett Chi

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Greg Oden is one of the largest sports tragedies in the history of the NBA. Oden showed great promise in his years leading up to him being first pick of the 2007 NBA Draft. But, he sadly has his career cut extremely short by severe injuries.

Early Career

Oden first came into the basketball spotlight in his time at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, where he led the team to an impressive 29-0 record and a state championship. After high school, he played a sole season at Ohio State University, where he showed great promise for a professional basketball career, averaging with stats including 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game in the 2006-2007 season. He led his college team to the NCAA championship, and earned awards such as the first-team All-American and the Big 10 Player of the Year. All his hard work eventually led him to being the first pick of the 2007 draft to the Portland Trail Blazers, where he played for two seasons, before being traded to the Miami Heat. But, tragedy struck after severe injuries derailed his NBA career.

Injuries

The beginning of a series of harsh injuries actually began before Greg Oden played a single NBA game. His rookie season was delayed by a microfracture surgery in his right knee, marking the first time the first pick of the draft missed their rookie season. By the time of his new rookie season in 2008-2009, he left the court of his debut game against the LA Lakers after only 13 minutes on the court with a foot injury. He returned a few weeks later, but was still in recovery and not up to the standard he was in college. But, he picked it up as in his next four games he recorded double-doubles (two stats in the double digits). But, in the February of that season; a knee-to-knee collision led to an injured kneecap, causing Oden to miss another month of the season. He came back very strong in the 2009-2010 season, offering a significant improvement to his stats from the previous season. Then, another injury struck as Aaron Brooks injured Oden by shooting a floater over him, giving him a fractured left patella, and keeping him out of the rest of the season. He eventually had to have another microfracture surgery in late 2010. But, a couple years later he signed with the Miami Heat for his NBA return after his injuries, a team that already had star players like Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. However, although this was his third season it was also his last.

Effects of Injury

Oden’s tragic injuries left a once aspired player in a series of misfortune after misfortune as his basketball career continued to fall apart. Oden was never even considered an all-star player as his performance post injuries didn’t qualify him as one, although coming out of college and into the NBA draft he was expected to be one the best players in the league. But, Greg Oden wasn’t done with basketball. After completing his degree at Ohio State University, where he had previously played, he transitioned to a coaching role at Butler University. He now focuses mentoring young athletes and giving insight from his own personal experiences.

Conclusion

The story of Greg Oden is definitely one of the saddest in the NBA, as he had to witness his career fall apart from injuries that were out of his control, unfortunately causing him to not meet up to the expectations people had for him at the start of his professional career. But, I believe it goes without saying that the way he responded to the setbacks and kept going no matter what is inspirational to athletes and non-athletes alike. Something that is equally as inspirational is the way he found a new way to continue his basketball passions outside of being a player. To this day, players still look up to Greg Oden and what he was able to accomplish with the short career he had.

Work Cited

“Greg Oden.” Grokipedia, 21 Jan. 1970, grokipedia.com/page/Greg_Oden. 

Fromal, Adam. “Complete Timeline of Greg Oden’s Tumultuous Injury-Plagued NBA Career.” Bleacher Report, bleacherreport.com/articles/1725184-complete-timeline-of-greg-odens-tumultuous-injury-plagued-nba-career. 

“Greg Oden Has a New Job after Leaving Butler Basketball Behind.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, sports.yahoo.com/greg-oden-job-leaving-butler-222252586.html.

“Greg Oden Career Stats - NBA.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/3225/greg-oden.