Greg Oden might attempt a comeback...again

[Mandich]

I'm sure he refused it because of what he thinks are good reasons. Some people just try sort things out alone. Best of luck to both Sanders and Oden.

[air gordon]

To some degree, I agree with sauru. Oden does indeed want to play but how else is he to make money? Im assuming he didn't graduate college and from what I've seen he isn't media savvy

Former bulls top pick jay Williams threw away his basketball career when he got on that motorcycle but he landed on his feet as a college bball analyst.

[shadowgrin]

Well Oden did take that picture of himself with his pet snake, seems like he's well equipped for the porn industry if he needs the money that bad.


Dunno if Lamrock still has that as a sig.

[NovU]

Obviously it'd be naive to believe money is not part of motivation but it'd be a baseless accusation to say it's everything to there is. There were allegedly teams with better contract offers but he still took on the Heat's.

[Andrew]

imagine if this thread had more posts about the topic than random nonsense?

It certainly would be preferable.

I recall Oden mentioning that he wasn't hurting for money while preparing for his previous comeback, so perhaps he's invested wisely and with any luck, has something else lined up.

[Kenny]

Good to know that he's not in trouble financially. I don't have much hope in him making any significant comeback in the NBA (I think it would pan out like Jonathan Bender's comeback with the Knicks), but it shows a lot of character to even make an attempt, given his history.

By the way, apologies for my role in derailing this thread.

[NovU]

I told you this. It's 'derailing' because initial rant by that "Troll" was meaningless to expand on. He's pointless.

What I said instantly was that this was "issue of non importance", especially for this thread.

[Andrew]

Good to know that he's not in trouble financially. I don't have much hope in him making any significant comeback in the NBA (I think it would pan out like Jonathan Bender's comeback with the Knicks), but it shows a lot of character to even make an attempt, given his history.

Agreed. And like I said, even if this is just something he's doing for fitness and to enjoy a sport he obviously loved enough to want to make a career out of...good for him.

[NovU]

Well said, guys.

To add to the topic, I remember reading an article where Oden sadly felt strong mix of emotions at home watching KD thriving at the highest realm. And doctors told him to stay away from basketball but that didn't stop him from trying. It's been several years now but we still see this guy trying.

Too bad, possibly he could have been Hassan Whiteside or Mozgov for the Heat and Cavs respectively for this season, if anything healthy.

[benji]

I guess I don't understand how Oden, like Sam Bowie (who actually had a healthy stint later in his career), can be so brittle. When DeJuan Blair who essentially has no ACL's, is overweight and undersized can be a respectable reserve or better.

Oden's still seven feet tall!

You realize he's been in the league fine and dandy for 5 seasons now?

You realize he hasn't right? Assault and battery charges, another run in with police at night, didn't rehab like he was supposed to, on court demeanor issues, one of his injuries stemmed from a night club fight.

Now he's willingly giving up the fat contract he just signed because he feels it'd be ripping off the team.

Eddie Griffin who drank himself too much that he got hit by a train and died.

He drove into the train. Like earlier he had driven into a parked car while drunk. And then there was that time he was masturbating while parked in a parking lot.

Why isn't there a wikipedia category for messed up professional basketball players. I guess the 1986 NBA Draft page works close enough. Chris Washburn! Roy Tarpley! William Bedford! The John Williams who ate himself to like 400 pounds! Scott Skiles! Dennis Rodman! The last player taken in the draft being named Michael Jackson!

[benji]

Ha, Andrew Wiggins dad was suspended by the NBA in 1986 for two and a half years over cocaine on that messed up Rockets team.

[NovU]

Yeah benji. It's established fact that he's been trouble off the court. What I was implying though was that all that shit didn't keep him away from playing at high level.

Now I didn't know he was willing to give up the contract.

I guess I don't understand how Oden, like Sam Bowie (who actually had a healthy stint later in his career), can be so brittle. When DeJuan Blair who essentially has no ACL's, is overweight and undersized can be a respectable reserve or better.

The Heat tested how far they could push him before knees swelling up constantly. It didn't take much. Just running up and down the court pretty much done his knees to act up, that's with almost no lateral movement.

[Andrew]

Ha, Andrew Wiggins dad was suspended by the NBA in 1986 for two and a half years over cocaine on that messed up Rockets team.

Now there's some interesting trivia. Truth be told, I wasn't aware that he was a second generation player. Shows how closely I've followed his career.

[benji]

Yeah benji. It's established fact that he's been trouble off the court. What I was implying though was that all that shit didn't keep him away from playing at high level.

Compare 2012-13 to all his other seasons.

[NovU]

12-13 was particularly special, getting labelled the league's best rim protector. First couple seasons were buried behind Ilyasova and Bogut, but still developed to be a great player when he was finally given a shot. This year he was pretty nice whenever he was able to stay on the court.

It looks like a distant memory when he had this stretch where he was blocking 5-8 shots at ease. Ridiculous.