Weighing the options for Greg Oden: Should he keep going?
Among the questions facing the Trail Blazers as they get used to life without Greg Oden, another bigger and broader question faces Oden himself as he prepares for another grueling round of rehab and another psychological hurdle to clear once he does get back on the basketball court.
Do I want to do this anymore?
On one level, I’ll admit it sounds kind of ridiculous. Athletes get hurt all the time — and major injuries are no foreign concept — but with today’s medical technology and the evolutionary improvements made by trainers and nutritionists and others charged with getting athletes to perform at their highest level, almost anything seems sustainable. We’re no longer in the days of Gale Sayers or Greg Cook, where it seems easy for one injury to end somebody’s career permanently. Players get over stuff like this.
But in the case of Oden, it’s more than just one injury or even about the severity of each injury. From the wrist in college to the knee surgery after the ’07 Draft to the various foot and knee issues that popped up in his rookie year, and now to the fractured patella he suffered on Saturday, Oden can’t seem to avoid getting hurt. I was talking to a friend yesterday and he put it best: “Yeah, you can be 7-foot and 275 or whatever, but that don’t mean you’re built for this.”
I’m not saying Oden should retire. But I wonder how many times he’ll think about it over the course of the next year.
A couple years ago I met Oden and felt I was talking to a guy who simply played basketball because he was tall and athletic and everybody told him he should play because NBA players make a lot of money; basically, a way more talented version of Jerome James. But more recentlyI’ve talked to a Greg Oden that convinced me he does love what he’s doing. He loves being in the gym, working on his game, seeing his skills improve. He loves winning and he hates losing. And if he continues to feel the same way about the game that he did when he was busting his butt this summer, he should absolutely continue.
But on the other hand, look at it this way: You’re 21 years old, an intelligent and studious guy who would’ve gotten into a great college even if you couldn’t play ball, but your body may be falling apart. You’ve got a few million dollars in the bank already and a few million more coming to you in guaranteed money even if you never play another game. Obviously you can earn several more million playing ball and will get to do something you love, but at this rate you could become one of those 40-year-olds who can barely walk without pain and might not be able to teach your kids how to play the sport you love. Given all that, is the prospect of going back to college, finishing your degree and getting a “regular” job going to look at least slightly attractive?
We assume that all athletes are hard-wired to pursue sports until the wheels fall off, no matter what stands in the way. Grant Hill is one of those guys. Maybe Greg Oden is one of those guys. But sometime during this latest rehab process, when Oden is trying to get his knee to cooperate and do what it used to do unconsciously for him, or when he’s trying to get himself back into the kind of shape required to run with the best athletes in the world, he’ll ask himself the question: Do I want to do this anymore?
If it’s in his best interest to answer “No,” hopefully the people he listens to in his life will be supportive enough to know that it’s not necessarily a terrible thing.
Follow Austin Burton on Twitter: @AustinatDIMEmag
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December 7th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Gunner J. Matthews says:
There’s no reason for him to stop now. He’s made it this far. He has all the potential in the world but he’s just too fragile. Ive always said that about him. Portland made the necessary pick of him over Kevin Durant. This will set Greg Oden back some but not the franchise
December 7th, 2009 at 10:17 am
rell says:
He dosen’t need to quit. Oden just need to get traded to the Suns and then he will be fine.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Pet Society Help says:
What does he have to lose? Keep on truckin! No one told Earl Boykins to stop.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Sweet English says:
Look at the dude, he must be at least 35, he’s gotta be close to retiring anyway hasn’t he?
December 7th, 2009 at 10:37 am
k-smooth says:
GO ODEN; YOU’LL BE ALRIGHT!
December 7th, 2009 at 10:37 am
jonny taise says:
a well written piece! well done again dime.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Jau says:
Pritchard must be kicking himself now knowing he couldve had durant alongside roy
December 7th, 2009 at 10:41 am
ToAn says:
he will definitely come back one more time but i think there will be a major injury next year as well..i don’t think that his injuries have anything to do with “bad luck”…like AB’s friend said, his body isn’t ready for this kind of competition. and it’s not like he averaged 40 minutes this season…he is just an injury waiting to happen and in course of an 82 games season SOMETHING is going to happen to his body. but maybe i’m wrong and that would be a good thing
December 7th, 2009 at 10:55 am
ERIC says:
Paul Allen should dig deep into his pockets and do whatever it takes to get the Phoenix Suns training staff to Portland. I feel only they could fix GO.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:03 am
jimmy (cawter) says:
All i gotta say is, greg’s had a major injury since high school. its not normal. He should retire while he still has legs to walk on.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:05 am
hahns says:
good article.
oden should talk to grant hill and college athletes that havent gone pro
December 7th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Heckler says:
first of all….Grant Hill has turned into a BITCH! i used to like him and co-sign on him, then he pissed on the orlando magic after getting that fat ass $100 million contract, and then sat on his ass b’cus of a swollen ankle. didnt grant hill sit out like 5yrs or some shit?!!? crying about his ankle?…and now look, he playing 35+ minutes a night; with Phoenix no less.
He turned low-class the way he punked orlando and just left to go sign with phoenix. orlando stayed behind him thru rehab and shit. they even supported his wife when they learned she had MS.
…and the Magic even made the playoffs in Hills last season with them. so that showed they were a good team getting better. but still…his bitch ass left.
what he did was worse than carlos boozer and elton brand. what they be teaching them dudes in Durham?
December 7th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Heckler says:
GREG ODEN
this big mofo never had a passion for bball anyway. he just had the height and body. he doesnt care much for playing. we all know this. i think he said before he’d rather be a dentist. he has NO real desire to play nba ball.
but, he might as well stick with it for the money. sheeeeit, he aint gonna shrink, so he might as well use his height as long as he can. he can always go back to school when he’d done with his bball career. no need to stop now. take the millions from Paul Allen and keep selling us hoovers.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Diego says:
@ post 1: “[N]ecessary pick of him over Durant”? Why, because they needed a center? Just like when they drafted Bowie over Jordan (because they already had Drexler), I suppose?
Oden is young and should stick it out. Look at Big Z and all the problems he had early on. And Przybilla himself was very injury prone and missed a lot early on.
I think Yao at this stage would have to be more tempted to bag the NBA–and just focus on producing little Yaos with his Chinese hoopster wife.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Name (required) says:
the blazers have like 6 guys injured or something, and they always seem to have a couple of guys out for the season. obviously Oden was hurt in college, and is clearly quite fragile, but could a part of the problem be that the blazers have shitty medical and training staff??
Grant Hill has been an ironman since he got to PHX and they’ve got a youth fountain or something that keeps Nash going. Then there’s teams like the Bucks, Wizards, Blazers and Rockets where it seems as if they practice with sledgehammers to try and break as many bones as possible. it cant all be down to bad luck. the blazers need to get a whole team of specialists in who’s sole purpose is getting Oden stronger and more durable, and if they already have that team, then they need a new one.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I don’t think he should retire just yet. If another major season ending injury happens again next season then he definitely should think about it.
One thing we have to stop talking about is his potential to be a great player. The talk has now shifted to his potential to be get injured. Seriously, Oden never struck me as extraordinarily athletic. All he really had (in college) was height and great timing at blocking shots and the latter has been exposed in the NBA.
If and when he returns from this current injury Oden will only be an average center at best unless he develops a mid range shot like Big Z then maybe he can be a good center. Big Z had injury trouble early in his career and was able to be a very respectable center because he has a shot. Oden will need to develop that facet of his game and shed his reckless mentality on defense where all of his injuries seem to occur.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:57 am
nao_diga says:
Should Oden retire?
Depends. He should talk to his own doctors and find out what the odds are that his knee(s) can be repaired well enough to stand up to 8-10 years of 82 game seasons.
If they can, and if being a solid NBA center and pulling in 10-20 million (net) over the course of those years is worth it to him, then he might want to try again.
If they can’t, or if he’s happy with the guaranteed money he’s already got, or if his reason for playing was to be a superstar, any of the above, then he should retire.
Spliff’s point on Z being pertinent, but knees might be different than feet.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Seany T says:
Being a European Nba fan that is and watching alot of of European soccer/sports that one thing that strikes me about the Nba and it’s stars is the sheer number of injuries sustained. I think the nba schedule is to blame, 82 games + more if you’re playoff bound must be an absolute killer on the body, back to back games and such. Comparing it to other sports and how the’re scheduled it’s easy to see why so many players pick up injuries. Players are literally playing the injury lottery given the amount time they spend putting their bodies on the line. Teams play too many games and I think players are pressured to come back too soon. I know this isn’t the case with Oden’s injury but I think it has contributed to alot of others.
It seems like only the freakishly lucky are injury free. Not every one is built to be made of Iron and Oden is obviously one of the unlucky ones. He was looking like he might breakout this season, now we’ll never know.
Heres hoping he bounces back.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
NTstateOFmind says:
@Heckler, do some research before you open your mouth
…just because you assume of all of that re: Grant Hill doesnt make it true
December 7th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
egypt says:
@12…. clearly you’ve never played a sport and gotten injured before… its not like Grant Hill wanted to rehab for multiple years and not play…. how are u gonna fault a guy for getting injured? shit happens when u play a sport
December 7th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
KCL says:
seriously one of the few articles I severely disagree with by Austin. Greg’s going to come back because he wants to prove to the naysayers like basically everyone in this blog that he does want to get better and win. He simply has the shittiest luck ever but he’ll get over it. I have faith that he’ll come back ready to go next season because all Greg wants to do is be better and show what he can do. The injury will definetly hurt his pocketbook tho cuz he wont get a extension from prichard now
December 7th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Chicagorilla says:
Yet another story of a black athlete who should have gotten his degree from college while he was offered a full ride. He could still do it now, but it’ll be on his dollar. And from the looks of it, he’s going to need all of the DOLLARS he can get because he won’t earn many more from bball.
From all the kids who tried going str8 to the nba out of HS and the early entry guys from college you would think that these athletes would learn their lesson. Guys like STANLEY ROBERTS, who was a beast and had the tools to be a all-time great til all the drugs and injuries, now at 40 yrs old he’s using financial aid to finish the college years at LSU. A degree that he should have gotten in the first place while playing their.
Korleon young, Ronnie Fields, Ousmane Cissie, Lenny Cooke and eventually Eddy Curry are prime examples of how to f^k up a good thing. While someone like JJ Reddick, Jameer Nelson, Sheldon Williams, Tyler Hansbrough, Tim Duncan, Josh Howard, Tayshun Prince, Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Kevin Garnett (Kevin went to college while in Minnesota and got his degree) could never make another NBA dollar, but they have an education that they could fall back on. I know a few pro-athletes that have fallen on hard times (Icky Woods) because of the lack of education. Knowledge is Power Greg… you better figure it out now.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Kudabeen says:
Stop and do what?? Become a professional cartoon critique?
No Really. He is young enough and I really think he wants to prove to people that he isn’t useless…Feel bad for him. He was getting his flow. You can’t blame him. He put in the work…He lost weight and got stronger.
And are you serious about the 100k he has to pay for an education? Dude is up millions of dollar in the game on his rookie contract. Drop in the bucket if he has to pay for his education.
Good luck to the dude.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Hope Granda Oden turns out more of a Bill Walton than a Sam Bowie. At least Walton won Portland a chip.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
sh!tfaced says:
****Grandpa
December 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
ruballin says:
@22
dude… he can always go back and get his degree later. Yeah, he’ll spend his own money on it… but HE HAS MILLIONS IN THE BANK. Not to mention, I guarantee you schools would be inclined to give ex-NBA players full rides. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to college, but on a lot of applications there’s even a question asking something like “Are you related to somebody famous?”
Plus, even if he never even gets a degree he can get a job in the NBA as a studio analyst or something.
GO made the right choice to go pro.
December 7th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@26
Really a job as a studio analyst. Don’t know about you, but Sam Bowie has never shown up analizing game while i was watching. Neither has Mike Olawonkandi. Greg hasn’t done enough in the NBA for people to respect his opinion on anything basketball related. $40,000 a year for a guy who is making 4-6mil a year may not seem like much, til you account for taxes and the fact that the money has to last for the REST OF HIS LIFE and his kids life and their kids life. The only way for him to know how to manage that money and not get screwed over is to have some sort of education involving account/budgeting/business.
And don’t tell me you don’t need that, because I watched Vince Carter get screwed out of hundres of thousands of dollars by his first agent he signed with in the NBA. All of you who think that NBA money is for life and it will make itself… Isiah Rider wants to have a word with you, so does Stanley Roberts and Manute Bol, and probably about 15% of the players who have played in the last 30years or so. Like I said, I watched Icky Woods (former NFL starting running back) working at a his own car wash a few years ago. He didn’t look so rich with that towel in his hand.
December 7th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
POPPI GEE says:
C-Rilla I don’t always agree with what you spit, but you came with it on this one. I 100% totally agree and well said and put.
Not only will it help the cats that stay in and get that degree (never hurts to finish school and have a plan B or plan A in some options as you can use your degree while in the NBA and get the NBA salary and still have business), it will also help the college game.
College game is hurting more cause you don’t have a chance to grow with players as much because they are out after one (many of them). If they stayed then you learn more about them, become a fan of some more and many are more fundamentally and mentally ready for the NBA.
If you do leave early then I am saying have a plan aside from NBA cause that is not promised. Every dude ain’t gonna be an announcer and injuries can even prohibit you from doing the overseas stuff. So learn as much as you can and do something with the learning.
If G.O. can still play he needs to be an immediate back-up. For so many reasons dude has been overrated coming out of college and with a real rating he is just a back-up.
Season wise doesn’t G.O. get hurt then Bynum next…? Ut oh lakers lol.
December 7th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Blazermark says:
I just hope Greg is alright. Before Basketball, he is a person. And I bet he is freaked at this. We want Greg in Portland and will wait for him to get better.
December 7th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
pdxballer says:
i love greg oden and he definitely shouldnt give up yet. but thats a great point about how he couldve had a completely normal life outside of b-ball
December 7th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Tino says:
Maybe he should try drinking milk.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
QQ says:
Keep GOing. Honestly. You’re here now, no need to stop.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:47 am
john grizz says:
Go
Greg
Fuck
The
Haters
Do
Ur
Thing
December 8th, 2009 at 4:51 am
julian from new zealand says:
hes the black version of big Z. he could come back after early injuries in his career and still be effective…maybe.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:57 am
solomon (el latino machismo) says:
nice article, AB… good read… and some of the most sensible posts, too, from the regulars…
worth the time 101%
December 8th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Reareas says:
As a athlete, I’m inclined to agree to this article. This year, I’m in my 17th year of top level handball, here in Brazil. Despite the fact I have another 3 or 4 years playing in a top level, my body seems to hate me…LOL
I never have a severe injury, my knees are fine, and everything else are doing great. But I’m getting to be more tired than the usual. Not physical, but mentally tired. Year over year smashing my knees and other articulations and muscles in the gym. Not this “grandpa” exercises, think in hardcore trainig for playing at top level, against olimpic athletes. And I love what I do. Absolutely love. And seems to me that Oden lacks the passion for bball. And that reflects in his body condition, every year injured, and coming back, and injured again. This is not “only” physical. I think this is more a “head” problem that something else. And I’m not a hater, I’m just stating facts based in my experience as an athlete.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:33 am
bird says:
I remember breaking my right wrist while playing soccer some years ago and had to do a minor surgery then some months later I broke my left hand while playing basketball and had to do a major surgery and listen to friends and family tell me to quit sports. But I came back and broke my left hand again and had to do another surgery and yes I thought about quitting but I love the game. Am I injury prone. It would seem so. I have been injury free for years now and had I listen to the bearers of doom I would probably be fat and out of shape by now with lots of regret. And the worst thing is I wasn’t being paid to play.
So Greg Oden should definitely keep playing because fortune favours the brave and the brave may fall but never yield.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Nigel says:
I don’t think Oden should give up. Sure he’s been getting nicked up like his bones are made of popsicle sticks held together by paper clips and dental floss, but he can overcome this injury prone state. Look at Zydrunas. Held out for the most part early in his career due to injuries. After those hard times he had a pretty successful run still lasting today. I think Oden can do the same.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:49 am
j says:
The Blazers trainers must suck, that is the only way Portland has all these injuries the past 3 years. A player who is out 4 weeks goes on to miss the whole season, and players who were hurt last march(rudys back from ariza’s foul, Batums shoulder in April) had no recover over the summer and are just not beginning to sit out games. get a new training staff please