Being the #1 draft pick in any sport brings immense pressure along with it. Very few will live up to the lofty standards placed on them because of their selection status. Not being able to achieve your potential due to injuries not allowing you on the field, or in this case the court, can be even tougher to deal with. You’re left watching your teammates play without you, when all you can do is cheer and support them from the sidelines. That’s what Portland Trailblazers center Greg Oden has had to deal with for the large majority of his career since being the top pick in 2007.
It appears as though the constant battling through rehab, pressure he puts on himself, and frustration has caused Oden to seek counseling, according to Bill Duffy, the president of BDA Sports. BDA is the agency firm that represents Oden. Duffy explained further in an interview on 750 The Game from Portland yesterday:
“Counseling, therapy, interventions, just to let him understand all the pressures, not to put too much pressure on himself. Everybody needs that. Not just an athlete but someone to talk to and share your thoughts and your concerns and just get reassurance. If you do things the right way, stay patient, keep your eye on the prize, you’ll be fine.”In four years Oden has missed two full seasons and played a total of only 82 games in the other two combined. This past November he had a second microfracture surgery. For an injury that typically takes a minimum of a year to recover from it looks as though Oden may miss and handful of games, atleast, at the start of this season as well.
Obviously Portland wants to make sure Oden is completely healthy before allowing him to return to the court. Acting general manager Chad Buchanon dropped a bit of a hint as to what we’re looking at as far as a time table when he recently spoke with CBS Sports:
“We’re still a little ways out. We’re going to be supportive of Greg making sure he feels 100 percent comfortable to get back on the court. We’re going to rely on what both Greg and what the doctors tell us. We want to make sure that he’s in the right mindset as well as the right physical condition to get him back on the court.”Duffy echoed those sentiments:
“We don’t want to come back too soon. We’re not going to even challenge it until we get to that 12-month threshold. If it were December or November or January we just can’t afford any more slipups. We’ll wait until we get full clearance and then probably err on the side of caution, maybe a month or so after that.”
Before the 2007 draft the hotly debated topic was whether or not Portland would select Greg Oden first, or a 6’9″ swingman out of Texas named Kevin Durant. The Blazers took Oden and Durant landed in Oklahoma City and has become the face of the franchise and a two-time scoring champion. Coming out of Ohio State Oden was seen as a “can’t miss” big man whose ability on the defensive end reminded some of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell.
During his only year in college Oden averaged15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks. He was named First Team All-Big Ten and awarded the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. In that year’s NCAA Tournament Oden led the Buckeyes to the championship game against a Florida team with future NBA stars Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer. Florida would win the game and the title, but Oden didn’t disappoint on the big stage with a 25 point, 14 rebound, 4 block performance.
It seems like we have been talking about Greg Oden forever. That being said, even with four years of NBA “experience” under his belt he’s still only 23 years old and should have quite a few solid, if not all-star caliber, years ahead of him. Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Zach Randolph, and Amar’e Stodemire had the same surgery and largely came back unaffected. Chris Webber, Allan Houston, and Tracy McGrady did not fair as well afterwards. Hopefully Oden will return 100%, mentally and physically, from his recent string of back luck to show us why Portland invested a #1 overall pick in him.
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