Yeah, in no way was it GO's fault. He was an absolute beast when he played for Portland. He was a great 1st pick. He literally could've been a Zion/Dwight Howard player.
Fuck that's brutal. Getting blamed for something that's completely out of your control like injuries must be an awful experience, especially with the added pressure of a first overall pick.
Exactly. Adding on top of that, he was doing the surgeries/rehabs/exercises that were prescribed to him, so it's a double shitty situation. Doing everything everyone tells you to do, and still catching the heat.
Edit: weren't injuries so prevalent with the Blazers at the time that people started to investigate the training staff and the court at the training facility or something? Or am I totally off
When it comes to people who are considered a "bust" in professional sports I think it is often forgotten how much of an impact that would have on someone's mental health. Told for years you are great, get treated like a god, then when it finally comes time to live up to the hype you just don't. The love turns to hate as you drift off into mediocrity.
Truth. And to boot these guys have to be hyper competitive people to even make it close to the nba. The pressure high level athletes put on themselves (and of course the pressure they feel from coaches and family etc) is a lot.
Hope he finds some peace, seems like he’s on his way.
I honestly think not getting there because of injuries is worse than being Anthony Bennett or Michael Olowokandi, or whoever. Those guys knew they weren’t great players, they were just kids and were just along for the ride. They’re not gonna tell everybody they were wrong.
But Oden legitimately had the tools to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame Center, and his body just quit.
Going out on an injury cannot be easy, but at least someone like Walton was able to get some rings and and MVP and do something, even if it wasn't all he wanted to do; to have your career just basically end before it even started must be just incredibly difficult to work through, particularly as a teenager/early 20 something who is still is starting out life
that's why i hate whenever anyone calls guys like oden a bust, because i don't see a guy whose career was ruined by injury as a bust. a true bust is someone who actually couldn't perform like anthony bennett, who was able to play and just sucked
This is a heart breaker.
I don’t remember the fanbase ever feeling like Oden, or Roy for that matter, let us down. If anything, we were collectively mourning.
Injuries are BRUTAL. They happen. We obviously joke we’re cursed, but Oden laid it all out there the best he could.
My personal opinion that many don’t agree with… I don’t really feel injuries make someone a bust. The talent was there, hell the production was there relative to his age but something out of his control is what derailed his career.
You’re seeing that word used a lot right now when people talk about Zion but I feel the same way. Roy/Oden/Zion all had/have the tools to be great but their bodies let them down. That doesn’t make someone a bust. They’re not Anthony Bennett.
Wasn't his fault he had wonky knees. I was disappointed with the situation, and disappointed that he didn't get to shine like I think we all knew he could. But I wasn't and never have been disappointed at *him*.
It was low key depressing seeing him at a season ticket holder event. Dude chilled in a separate room with guitar hero or something on it and took pictures but he looked dejected and it wasn’t his fault :(
50-12 record when healthy playing with Roy+Aldridge in the lineup. Could run the court almost as well as Aldridge before he bulked up too much. Demanded double teams on box outs freeing up Aldridge. Was dunking put backs over dudes in his "rookie" season. What could have been. We as Portland fans just don't deserve this curse.
Haha, yeah, I remember sitting near the basket when he was backing down Shaq. Previously, Shaq wanted to show him up and bodied him for the dunk. In response, Oden had two straight dunks on Shaq.
Shaq was soooo mad. Like, it was the same emotional face he makes when you see him get mad on TNT.
This is just sad man. He wasn’t a bad dude and when he played he was great, injuries let *him* down. I don’t have any sort if ill will for the man, he didn’t let down our city or our organization. Injuries are so unfair.
I completely agree, there are some busts out there that were straight up bad players with no work ethic, Oden was not one of those. It was certainly bad luck, but when he played he was good and I can't blame him for his genetics.
Man, I remember seeing Oden at the Pancake House or whatever over on Powell (Sorry I'm from the valley, I don't remember the name.) He's all booted up with crutches and sitting there quietly with a friend, and I'm thinking, "I'll just go over say something encouraging." Then i see this elderly woman with a walker and I'm assuming her younger, elder son. They walk over to him, on their way out, and one of them says, "Hang in there big guy." He just smiles the most forced smile, and says thank you. I'm watching this poor guy quietly die inside. I felt so bad for the man. Sure he had his own hopes and dreams there, but he wore the shroud of "what if" every where he went. An entire city of hopes and dreams. He probably heard "hang in there" and "it'll be alright" a million times. Hope he's doing something he enjoys now, and doesn't have to live with that forever. He was a good player and seemed like a genuine guy. Effing injuries. Anyways, thought I'd share as it was a fairly memorable moment for me.
Give me 100 parallel universes where I don't know what happens and I still pick Oden 100 times. It's a hill I'd die on - he was the right choice and would have had Shaq levels of dominance without the injuries.
No need to be ashamed Greg, you did what you could.
Blazers went 50-12 in the games you played with Roy and LMA. We all wish it could’ve turned out differently but life happens.
Wish him the best.
i remember comparing our homegrown big 3 potential to OKC’s (Greg already had injury problems by then) and being so sad seeing them succeed and ours just slowly die.
GO, big man, if you see this just know you didn't let anyone down. you were an amazing talent that was absolutely worth the #1 pick. injuries suck, you are not a bust and rip city loves you!
I hope one day if I ever run into Oden that I get the chance to tell him he was great at basketball, and he has nothing to be ashamed of for what happened to him. I've seen videos of him now seemingly happen in life, but I know it eats at him being such a competitive person always asking what if.
I met him at the end of his portland tenure. I shook his hand and said something positive about him, he said "thanks" but shrugged in a way that implied nothing positive about him could be true. It was pretty heartbreaking to be honest.
My mom used to work for Rebound Orthopedics when they did the Blazer physicals. She would help check them in and show them to there rooms. She said that Greg was the nicest and most down to earth player on the team. Sucks that injuries shut him down.
She also said that Meyers Leonard was the biggest tool she ever met.
I remember I went to a blazers camp as a kid the year after Oden was drafted. He made an appearance, was the nicest person in the arena, and as he was leaving, a kid passed him a ball and asked if he would heave a full court shot. He obliged and sunk the shit, unbelievably, on the first take. I've never forgotten this about him.
Stayed “in the house for two weeks straight and felt too ashamed to go outside”
Sounds like a redditor.
Jokes aside, that sucks that he went through all that. Your mental health is more important than sports.
That’s sad to read. I actually met him coming out of a restaurant once while he was rehabbing from an injury while he was a Blazer. He was so pleasant and friendly, and just seemed a really down to earth type of guy.
>… He went to a club with his on-and-off girlfriend at the time, Christina Green, and he coupled beers with shots. They returned to the house of Oden's mother, Zoe, and started arguing. Zoe and a friend of Green's tried to calm him down, but Oden swatted them out of the way, pushed Green onto a couch and hit her three times, according to the police report. The last blow split open her forehead, drawing blood. Oden's mother pulled him off, and Green's friend called 911. Oden also called 911, ordered an ambulance and turned himself in. "I was wrong," he told police, "and I know what has to happen."
>Oden pleaded guilty to a felony charge of battery with moderate bodily injury, for which he received probation, a fine and an order to attend counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous classes. Almost three years later, he thinks often about that night, though he can't discuss it in much detail because of the terms of a civil suit. "I just want to be a good example for my fiancée and daughter," he says. He thinks about what will happen when Londyn one day Googles her daddy's name and discovers something much worse than being the biggest bust in NBA history. And he thinks about what he did next, trying to begin a new life.
>He moved back to Columbus.
From: [https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19868061/cursed-body-was-blessing-greg-oden-headed-back-ohio-state](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19868061/cursed-body-was-blessing-greg-oden-headed-back-ohio-state)
I highly doubt Greg would ever see any of these comments here, though I certainly hope he does. But damn Rip City, it makes me happy to see how many of y'all didn't hold him accountable and how much we all wanted him to succeed.
This dude did everything he could to play, his body just wouldn't let him. That's not his fault. As one user mentioned, we were all collectively mourning what could've been.
Greg ever decides to come visit the rose city, any fan that sees him should remind him that we still love the big fella.
That article was so good. There's zero doubt in my mind that he would have brought us rings if he wasn't injured. His play was on a whole other level when he was on the court
It is really sad because we all know that mental state can directly impact recovery. Greg was in a dark place, his mind was not aimed in a positive direction. Part of his own disappointment was inevitable given his hype and potential followed by the disappointment of his body's ability to stay healthy. But you can't help wonder if he hadn't been hearing all the negativity and disappointment from the fans and media if he'd been able to have a different mindset.
Just imagine if the city, fans, and media had surrounded Greg in his recovery and given him that mental boost to get out of the dark cloud instead of holding it there with negativity, insults, jokes and frustration.
The world is often such a negative place surrounding things like this. I read pieces like this, and I recognize my own tiny involvement in the language I may have used and the comments I may have made about Greg, and I hope that I can do better with players that are currently on the team that are also humans, and also may be struggling.
Also, I'm glad that despite it, Greg is still with us and has found some peace and is in a better spot. If I could talk to him, I would tell him that while he feels like he failed US, in a way, we failed him as well.
I mean he lied on his injury report when drafted. And the blazers didn’t do their homework.
Greg seems like a great guy. But his knees were shot before getting to the league.
Blazers hate GO cause we should have took Durant. If anything hate our GM at the time.
Not your fault with injuries, it happens. You were likely even more bummed out that injuries prevented you from being able to live the life you wanted to. Wishing you the best!! 🙏🙏🙏🕊🕊🕊
Haven’t had time to read the whole article yet but damn is his story one of the most heartbreaking things in sports.
To love basketball that much, to have some of the highest expectations placed on you that one could ever have—only for your body to break down on you and repeatedly fail you, as if to betray you and everything you’ve understood about yourself and place in the world up to that point…
As tough as it could be for him or for many in the crowd, it could be cool if one day if the Blazers are doing better he could return to a Blazers game and the crowd could at some point welcome him back while giving a standing ovation.
Homeboy took on that promise personally, but funny thing about whatever genetic predisposition he had -- it's not personal.
Sorry to Greg for going through such difficulties, that must have been horrible.
It's crazy cause that whole time during the Greg Oden days, I blamed the organization not GO. I feel really bad cause he never had control over his injuries and when he played, he was a monster.
I feel so bad for him, when he played GO was fantastic. Literally a championship level piece. I think with him healthy, with the blazer squad we had at the time, we’d have 2-3 possible chips or at least finals appearances, which some changes of course. This might show my age, but he was the first nba player I could remember the name of lol so he anyways has a special place in my heart
It's okay Oden, not your fault your body completely gave out on you. You gave it your all, and that's all anyone could ask of you. You were never the biggest draft bust of all time, and even if you were, Ben Simmons now occupies that spot.
Does anyone get the feeling that Portland has never made it a priority to have a top flight medical team. Right from the start with Walton, when has this team ever done right by an injured player? This really concerns me with Dame getting into the back half of his career that we simply don't have the capacity to support injured athletes well.
Just to add, this is NOT in response to the GPII situation. If we had a great medical staff, things may have played out differently but I don't think we tried to pull a fast one on GS.
Fuck injuries man
Yeah, in no way was it GO's fault. He was an absolute beast when he played for Portland. He was a great 1st pick. He literally could've been a Zion/Dwight Howard player.
Fuck that's brutal. Getting blamed for something that's completely out of your control like injuries must be an awful experience, especially with the added pressure of a first overall pick.
Exactly. Adding on top of that, he was doing the surgeries/rehabs/exercises that were prescribed to him, so it's a double shitty situation. Doing everything everyone tells you to do, and still catching the heat. Edit: weren't injuries so prevalent with the Blazers at the time that people started to investigate the training staff and the court at the training facility or something? Or am I totally off
You’re totally right and the staff was let go.
This hits me right in the feelers, man. So much put on such a young guy. That's rough.
When it comes to people who are considered a "bust" in professional sports I think it is often forgotten how much of an impact that would have on someone's mental health. Told for years you are great, get treated like a god, then when it finally comes time to live up to the hype you just don't. The love turns to hate as you drift off into mediocrity.
Truth. And to boot these guys have to be hyper competitive people to even make it close to the nba. The pressure high level athletes put on themselves (and of course the pressure they feel from coaches and family etc) is a lot. Hope he finds some peace, seems like he’s on his way.
I honestly think not getting there because of injuries is worse than being Anthony Bennett or Michael Olowokandi, or whoever. Those guys knew they weren’t great players, they were just kids and were just along for the ride. They’re not gonna tell everybody they were wrong. But Oden legitimately had the tools to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame Center, and his body just quit.
It would be legit be horrible to love playing basketball and essentially be disabled from playing it at 23 years old too.
Going out on an injury cannot be easy, but at least someone like Walton was able to get some rings and and MVP and do something, even if it wasn't all he wanted to do; to have your career just basically end before it even started must be just incredibly difficult to work through, particularly as a teenager/early 20 something who is still is starting out life
If Oden had a healthy career for 7-8 years, we guaranteed win 1-2 chips with LMA, Roy and Oden. These guys in the playoffs would cook everyone else.
Especially with Batum and Wes there to shore up the starting lineup.
that's why i hate whenever anyone calls guys like oden a bust, because i don't see a guy whose career was ruined by injury as a bust. a true bust is someone who actually couldn't perform like anthony bennett, who was able to play and just sucked
This is a heart breaker. I don’t remember the fanbase ever feeling like Oden, or Roy for that matter, let us down. If anything, we were collectively mourning. Injuries are BRUTAL. They happen. We obviously joke we’re cursed, but Oden laid it all out there the best he could.
My personal opinion that many don’t agree with… I don’t really feel injuries make someone a bust. The talent was there, hell the production was there relative to his age but something out of his control is what derailed his career.
Yeah, it's a matter of how you mean the term but there's a valid difference between Len Bias dying and Anthony Bennett balling out of the league.
You’re seeing that word used a lot right now when people talk about Zion but I feel the same way. Roy/Oden/Zion all had/have the tools to be great but their bodies let them down. That doesn’t make someone a bust. They’re not Anthony Bennett.
lmao and now imagine being Anthony Bennett. Dude was as shocked as we were when he was picked #1.
Wasn't his fault he had wonky knees. I was disappointed with the situation, and disappointed that he didn't get to shine like I think we all knew he could. But I wasn't and never have been disappointed at *him*.
It was low key depressing seeing him at a season ticket holder event. Dude chilled in a separate room with guitar hero or something on it and took pictures but he looked dejected and it wasn’t his fault :(
50-12 record when healthy playing with Roy+Aldridge in the lineup. Could run the court almost as well as Aldridge before he bulked up too much. Demanded double teams on box outs freeing up Aldridge. Was dunking put backs over dudes in his "rookie" season. What could have been. We as Portland fans just don't deserve this curse.
Haha, yeah, I remember sitting near the basket when he was backing down Shaq. Previously, Shaq wanted to show him up and bodied him for the dunk. In response, Oden had two straight dunks on Shaq. Shaq was soooo mad. Like, it was the same emotional face he makes when you see him get mad on TNT.
Blazers probably would’ve got at least one championship with Roy Aldridge Batum Oden.But I aint mad at big fella
This is just sad man. He wasn’t a bad dude and when he played he was great, injuries let *him* down. I don’t have any sort if ill will for the man, he didn’t let down our city or our organization. Injuries are so unfair.
I completely agree, there are some busts out there that were straight up bad players with no work ethic, Oden was not one of those. It was certainly bad luck, but when he played he was good and I can't blame him for his genetics.
I love Greg Oden man, he was so good
Man, I remember seeing Oden at the Pancake House or whatever over on Powell (Sorry I'm from the valley, I don't remember the name.) He's all booted up with crutches and sitting there quietly with a friend, and I'm thinking, "I'll just go over say something encouraging." Then i see this elderly woman with a walker and I'm assuming her younger, elder son. They walk over to him, on their way out, and one of them says, "Hang in there big guy." He just smiles the most forced smile, and says thank you. I'm watching this poor guy quietly die inside. I felt so bad for the man. Sure he had his own hopes and dreams there, but he wore the shroud of "what if" every where he went. An entire city of hopes and dreams. He probably heard "hang in there" and "it'll be alright" a million times. Hope he's doing something he enjoys now, and doesn't have to live with that forever. He was a good player and seemed like a genuine guy. Effing injuries. Anyways, thought I'd share as it was a fairly memorable moment for me.
Director of Basketball Ops at Butler in Thad Matta's program now. Good for him!
Give me 100 parallel universes where I don't know what happens and I still pick Oden 100 times. It's a hill I'd die on - he was the right choice and would have had Shaq levels of dominance without the injuries.
😞
No need to be ashamed Greg, you did what you could. Blazers went 50-12 in the games you played with Roy and LMA. We all wish it could’ve turned out differently but life happens. Wish him the best.
Fuck jay jensen
It’s not your fault, Greg. Life is shitty sometimes.
When he was healthy he was a difference maker for the blazers. He can make peace with that!
Could’ve posted the article but posted the tweet instead
I find it much more annoying that the title includes zero mention of who's actually saying the quote.
[here you go](https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/3/8/23629542/greg-oden-butler-nba-ohio-state)
The thought of him, LMA, and BRoy on the same team without all the injuries is one of the great what ifs imo. You would have had a homegrown big 3
i remember comparing our homegrown big 3 potential to OKC’s (Greg already had injury problems by then) and being so sad seeing them succeed and ours just slowly die.
GO, big man, if you see this just know you didn't let anyone down. you were an amazing talent that was absolutely worth the #1 pick. injuries suck, you are not a bust and rip city loves you!
I hope one day if I ever run into Oden that I get the chance to tell him he was great at basketball, and he has nothing to be ashamed of for what happened to him. I've seen videos of him now seemingly happen in life, but I know it eats at him being such a competitive person always asking what if.
I met him at the end of his portland tenure. I shook his hand and said something positive about him, he said "thanks" but shrugged in a way that implied nothing positive about him could be true. It was pretty heartbreaking to be honest.
My mom used to work for Rebound Orthopedics when they did the Blazer physicals. She would help check them in and show them to there rooms. She said that Greg was the nicest and most down to earth player on the team. Sucks that injuries shut him down. She also said that Meyers Leonard was the biggest tool she ever met.
I remember I went to a blazers camp as a kid the year after Oden was drafted. He made an appearance, was the nicest person in the arena, and as he was leaving, a kid passed him a ball and asked if he would heave a full court shot. He obliged and sunk the shit, unbelievably, on the first take. I've never forgotten this about him.
Stayed “in the house for two weeks straight and felt too ashamed to go outside” Sounds like a redditor. Jokes aside, that sucks that he went through all that. Your mental health is more important than sports.
Man, I don't care if it didn't work out I still love Greg Oden and occasionally still wear my Oden jersey.
❤️ Greg Oden! He will always be a Blazer to me.
That’s sad to read. I actually met him coming out of a restaurant once while he was rehabbing from an injury while he was a Blazer. He was so pleasant and friendly, and just seemed a really down to earth type of guy.
Felt bad for him until he broke his girlfriends nose
>… He went to a club with his on-and-off girlfriend at the time, Christina Green, and he coupled beers with shots. They returned to the house of Oden's mother, Zoe, and started arguing. Zoe and a friend of Green's tried to calm him down, but Oden swatted them out of the way, pushed Green onto a couch and hit her three times, according to the police report. The last blow split open her forehead, drawing blood. Oden's mother pulled him off, and Green's friend called 911. Oden also called 911, ordered an ambulance and turned himself in. "I was wrong," he told police, "and I know what has to happen." >Oden pleaded guilty to a felony charge of battery with moderate bodily injury, for which he received probation, a fine and an order to attend counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous classes. Almost three years later, he thinks often about that night, though he can't discuss it in much detail because of the terms of a civil suit. "I just want to be a good example for my fiancée and daughter," he says. He thinks about what will happen when Londyn one day Googles her daddy's name and discovers something much worse than being the biggest bust in NBA history. And he thinks about what he did next, trying to begin a new life. >He moved back to Columbus. From: [https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19868061/cursed-body-was-blessing-greg-oden-headed-back-ohio-state](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19868061/cursed-body-was-blessing-greg-oden-headed-back-ohio-state)
Can feel bad for him and still condemn that behavior
Definitely ain't like that man. I love Greg .
That is so rough
I highly doubt Greg would ever see any of these comments here, though I certainly hope he does. But damn Rip City, it makes me happy to see how many of y'all didn't hold him accountable and how much we all wanted him to succeed. This dude did everything he could to play, his body just wouldn't let him. That's not his fault. As one user mentioned, we were all collectively mourning what could've been. Greg ever decides to come visit the rose city, any fan that sees him should remind him that we still love the big fella.
That article was so good. There's zero doubt in my mind that he would have brought us rings if he wasn't injured. His play was on a whole other level when he was on the court
At least he’s got the resources to get the help he needs.
Aside from the injuries, I just don't think he was prepared to be a pro athlete
He didn’t let anyone down. Shit happens.
Dude was arrested for battery on his ex I don’t feel for him at all
It is really sad because we all know that mental state can directly impact recovery. Greg was in a dark place, his mind was not aimed in a positive direction. Part of his own disappointment was inevitable given his hype and potential followed by the disappointment of his body's ability to stay healthy. But you can't help wonder if he hadn't been hearing all the negativity and disappointment from the fans and media if he'd been able to have a different mindset. Just imagine if the city, fans, and media had surrounded Greg in his recovery and given him that mental boost to get out of the dark cloud instead of holding it there with negativity, insults, jokes and frustration. The world is often such a negative place surrounding things like this. I read pieces like this, and I recognize my own tiny involvement in the language I may have used and the comments I may have made about Greg, and I hope that I can do better with players that are currently on the team that are also humans, and also may be struggling. Also, I'm glad that despite it, Greg is still with us and has found some peace and is in a better spot. If I could talk to him, I would tell him that while he feels like he failed US, in a way, we failed him as well.
Isn't this dude a woman beater. Fuck him and his bust ass. Enjoy your millions for being a large human being.
Damn brother it ain’t that deep. Yeah it sucks but shit happens
[удалено]
Delete this neffew.
I mean he lied on his injury report when drafted. And the blazers didn’t do their homework. Greg seems like a great guy. But his knees were shot before getting to the league. Blazers hate GO cause we should have took Durant. If anything hate our GM at the time.
Not your fault with injuries, it happens. You were likely even more bummed out that injuries prevented you from being able to live the life you wanted to. Wishing you the best!! 🙏🙏🙏🕊🕊🕊
hes just like me fr
[this](https://youtube.com/shorts/PAz4YIdyEVU?feature=share) gets me every time
Haven’t had time to read the whole article yet but damn is his story one of the most heartbreaking things in sports. To love basketball that much, to have some of the highest expectations placed on you that one could ever have—only for your body to break down on you and repeatedly fail you, as if to betray you and everything you’ve understood about yourself and place in the world up to that point… As tough as it could be for him or for many in the crowd, it could be cool if one day if the Blazers are doing better he could return to a Blazers game and the crowd could at some point welcome him back while giving a standing ovation.
Homeboy took on that promise personally, but funny thing about whatever genetic predisposition he had -- it's not personal. Sorry to Greg for going through such difficulties, that must have been horrible.
If the draft was held today I would still pick him over Durant. Character matters
It's crazy cause that whole time during the Greg Oden days, I blamed the organization not GO. I feel really bad cause he never had control over his injuries and when he played, he was a monster.
I feel so bad for him, when he played GO was fantastic. Literally a championship level piece. I think with him healthy, with the blazer squad we had at the time, we’d have 2-3 possible chips or at least finals appearances, which some changes of course. This might show my age, but he was the first nba player I could remember the name of lol so he anyways has a special place in my heart
It's okay Oden, not your fault your body completely gave out on you. You gave it your all, and that's all anyone could ask of you. You were never the biggest draft bust of all time, and even if you were, Ben Simmons now occupies that spot.
Does anyone get the feeling that Portland has never made it a priority to have a top flight medical team. Right from the start with Walton, when has this team ever done right by an injured player? This really concerns me with Dame getting into the back half of his career that we simply don't have the capacity to support injured athletes well. Just to add, this is NOT in response to the GPII situation. If we had a great medical staff, things may have played out differently but I don't think we tried to pull a fast one on GS.