For any basketball player, reaching the NBA is a dream come true. But for some, it is also a new chapter that starts by staying healthy. Unfortunately, that was something Greg Oden was unable to do. As most know, injuries kept the 7-footer from living up to the hype. Instead, he ended up being branded as one of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history.
Considering he was drafted ahead of Kevin Durant (who went to the Oklahoma City Thunder), Oden likely showed something promising for the Portland Trail Blazers to take him in during the 2007 NBA Draft. A reason for that is that 7-footers are hard to come by, and the player out of Ohio State would be hard to pass up. That was until the injury bug came to play.
Oden hardly made an impact in the NBA. Though he had some games showing promise, it remained that his NBA career could not take off since he was constantly injured. That eventually led to him being branded as a bust. But for Oden, bust may not be the right term for him considering his basketball journey. He admitted to Hoops Hype that he does see videos of him on YouTube(including one titled Greg Oden: A Bust?) and just laughed it off.
At 32, Oden would still be playing in the NBA had he undertaken some steps. That includes having the right body-mass index and changing the way he plays. Being a center, banging bodies would be hard to adjust to. But then again, other players have managed to play on.
Of course, the level of play Oden would have may be different. He could end up as a backup rather than the starter most thought he would be. He had that chance with the Miami Heat in 2013 but never really made an impact. Things just did not turn out well for the 32-year-old who prefers to remember the times when he was playing good basketball.
A look at Basketball-Reference.com shows Oden playing only a total of 105 games. His career averages are hardly worth bragging about, understandable because he struggled to stay healthy in the basketball court. He ended up being an NBA analyst, likely hounded by questions on what could have been. It was an unexpected turn of events, but Oden seems to have gotten used to it by now. As far as a bust, he prefers to term it as a case of plain bad luck.
