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Greg Oden Opens Up About What Went Wrong During Blazers Career
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- Greg Oden Opens Up About What Went Wrong During Blazers Career
(Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)
There are plenty of things Greg Oden couldn't control about how his time with the Portland Trail Blazers unfolded.
Four knee surgeries in three years certainly qualify.
But nearly two decades after Portland selected him No. 1 overall, Oden isn't interested in blaming everything that went wrong on injuries.
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Because there are some things he wishes he'd done differently, too.
"I can't blame anybody else because when I think about the what-ifs, I think about the nights that I was out drinking," Oden said during an interview with The Pivot Podcast. "The nights that I didn't come back into the gym and got the extra shots up."
That's a pretty significant admission from someone whose NBA career has largely been remembered for everything his body wouldn't allow him to do.
Oden missed his entire rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. He returned to play 61 games in 2008-09, appeared in only 21 the following season and never played another game for Portland.
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But injuries weren't the only thing Oden was dealing with.
He revealed that he intentionally made himself vomit after eating for roughly eight months while trying to lose weight.
Then there were the nights he couldn't sleep.
Oden showed The Pivot hosts a photo containing Advil PM, Benadryl, Tylenol PM, ZzzQuil and a beer.
And that wasn't everything.
"What's not in the picture is the Percocet and the Vicodin that I would take every night just to sleep for four hours," Oden said.
When asked when that was happening, his answer didn't require much explanation.
"Portland."
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Oden has discussed that period of his life before, including the drinking and prescription drug use that accompanied his struggles with injuries. But his latest comments also come with something that can be harder to find when discussing one of the NBA's great "what ifs."
Accountability.
"I did get injured, but I still had some things, some growing up to do," Oden said. "And I should have did a little bit more to be the best player I could possibly be."
That doesn't rewrite what happened to his knees.
Oden underwent repeated surgeries before eventually returning to the NBA with the Miami Heat in 2013-14. By then, he said, much of the athleticism that once made him the No. 1 pick was gone.
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But the benefit of nearly two decades of hindsight is understanding that his story was more complicated than an injury report.
Oden was 19 when Portland drafted him.
He was dealing with expectations, injuries and personal struggles he admits he didn't always handle the right way.
Now he can acknowledge the things that happened to him ... and the things he wishes he'd done differently.
Maybe that's why Oden has a much different way of describing his journey today.
"My story is not a basketball story," Oden said. "It's a life story."
