Greg Oden

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Greg Oden
Greg Oden.jpg
Oden with the Trail Blazers
Free agent
Center
Personal information
Born (1988-01-22) January 22, 1988 (age 25)
Buffalo, New York
Nationality American
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 285 lb (129 kg)
Career information
High school Lawrence North
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
College Ohio State (2006–2007)
NBA Draft 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career 2007–present
Career history
2007–2012 Portland Trail Blazers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Gregory Wayne Oden, Jr. (born January 22, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Oden played basketball for Ohio State University for one season, during which the team was the Big Ten Champion and the tournament runner-up in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

On June 28, 2007, Oden was selected first overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He underwent microfracture surgery of the knee in September 2007, and missed the entire 2007–08 NBA season as a result. He recovered and made his NBA debut on opening night 2008. On March 15, 2012, he was waived from the Trail Blazers after a long history of injuries.[1]

Oden is currently the "Team Oden" spokesperson for Oregon Mentors, promoting mentoring for kids.

Contents

Early years [edit]

Oden was born in Buffalo, New York, and moved with his family to Terre Haute, Indiana at the age of nine.[2] He attended Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, where he first played interscholastic basketball. He then relocated with his mother and brother and attended Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana which he led to three consecutive Indiana Class 4A basketball championships before graduating in 2006. He was named Parade's High School Co-Player of the Year 2005 (along with Monta Ellis) and 2005 National Boys Basketball Player of the Year. He repeated as Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2006. Oden was named the 2006 Indiana Mr. Basketball. He was also on the McDonald's All-American Team and played in the All-American game.

College [edit]

On June 29, 2005, Oden and Lawrence North teammate Mike Conley, Jr. announced that they would be attending Ohio State University starting with the 2006–07 season.

Oden had surgery on his right wrist on June 16, 2006, in Indianapolis to repair a ligament injury that occurred late in his senior high school season.[3] As a result, he sat on the Ohio State bench during the beginning of the 2006–07 season, during which the Buckeyes were ranked as high as #1 before losing to North Carolina. He made his college debut on December 2, 2006, against Valparaiso, coming off the bench. He finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. In December of that year, Steve Kerr described him as a "once-in-a-decade player".[4]

The Big Ten honored Oden as Player of the Week, along with Wisconsin's Alando Tucker, on January 29, 2007. In the previous week, he had averaged 18 points and 11.5 rebounds.[5] On March 6, 2007, Oden was named First Team All-Big Ten as well being voted the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.[6] Oden fouled out for the first time in his college career against Xavier in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and was bothered by foul trouble throughout the tournament. In the Sweet Sixteen, Oden blocked a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds against Tennessee to preserve an 85–84 victory, and went on to lead Ohio State past Memphis and Georgetown to advance to the 2007 National Championship. In the title game, Oden scored 25 points, and had 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in a losing effort against the Florida Gators.

On March 26, 2007, Oden, along with Kevin Durant, Arron Afflalo, Alando Tucker, and Acie Law IV, was named to the Associated Press All-American Team. Oden and Durant were the first freshmen voted to the All-American First Team since 1990 and the third and fourth overall. Throughout his high-school and college career, Oden never lost a home game.[7]

NBA career [edit]

Portland Trail Blazers (2007–2012) [edit]

On April 20, 2007, Oden announced that he would be entering the 2007 NBA Draft. On June 28, 2007, he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the #1 overall pick. Two of his Ohio State teammates were also chosen in the first round: Mike Conley, Jr. at #4, and Daequan Cook at #21.

To begin his Trail Blazers career, Oden chose the uniform number 52. On July 1, before his first NBA practice, Oden was signed to a contract which provided for two guaranteed seasons and team options for third and fourth seasons.

Oden at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con

On September 14, 2007, Oden had microfracture surgery on his ailing right knee. He missed the entire season.[8] Oden's progress was recorded on the Trail Blazers' website and his blog.

Although drafted in 2007, Oden was classified as a rookie for the 2008–09 season because of the knee injury.[9] Entering the 2008–09 season, he was listed at 250 lb (110 kg), but according to Blazers' trainer Jay Jensen he weighed about 290 lb (130 kg) in July.[10][11] Oden left his NBA debut with a foot injury after playing thirteen scoreless minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers.[12] He returned on November 12, 2008, after missing two weeks, and scored his first NBA points in the first quarter against the Miami Heat. On January 19, 2009, Oden had a career-high 24 points while also grabbing 15 rebounds in a 102–85 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.[13] On February 13, 2009, he injured his left knee in a game against the Golden State Warriors, by bumping knees with opponent Corey Maggette, and missed three weeks due to a chipped knee cap.

On November 23, 2009, Oden matched his career-high for points in a game again with 24. He set a new career-high for rebounds in a game with 20 on December 1. On December 5, 2009, Oden injured his left knee in the first quarter of a game. He was taken off the court on a stretcher. Later, he underwent surgery for a fractured left patella and missed the rest of the season. That injury marked the second time Oden had missed major playing time due to injury.[14]

On November 17, 2010, the team announced that Oden would have microfracture surgery on his left knee, ending his 2010–2011 season.[15] The injury marked Oden's third NBA season cut short due to a knee injury.

On December 9, 2011, the Trail Blazers announced that Oden had suffered an unspecified "setback" that left them less optimistic about his ability to play in the 2011–2012 season. Rather than signing an 8.9-million-dollar qualifying offer, Oden and the team negotiated a different offer.[16] On February 3, 2012, Oden underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.[17] On February 20, 2012, Oden was scheduled for a procedure on his left knee similar to the procedure he underwent 17 days earlier. However, during the operation, further damage to the articular cartilage was discovered, and Oden underwent his third micro-fracture surgery.[18] On March 15, 2012, Oden was waived by the Blazers to create room on the roster for trade acquisitions.[19]

By playing 82 games in his entire career so far, he has effectively played one full NBA season over the span of five seasons from 2007 to 2012.

Current status [edit]

In May 2012, Oden announced his intention to sit out the 2012–13 season to focus on rehabbing his injuries.[20] In January 2013, it was reported that several teams were interested in signing Oden for the 2013–2014 season.[21][22][23]

Personal life [edit]

Greg Oden's younger brother Anthony played as an offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks[24] until he was dismissed from the program in 2011.[25] Anthony Oden then transferred to Lamar University.[26]

NBA career statistics [edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season [edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Portland 61 39 21.5 .564 .000 .637 7.0 .5 .4 1.1 8.9
2009–10 Portland 21 21 23.9 .605 .000 .766 8.5 .9 .4 2.3 11.1
Career 82 60 22.1 .577 .000 .666 7.3 .6 .4 1.4 9.4

Playoffs [edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009 Portland 6 0 16.0 .524 .000 .667 4.3 .0 .3 1.0 5.0
Career 6 0 16.0 .524 .000 .667 4.3 .0 .3 1.0 5.0

See also [edit]

Footnotes [edit]

  1. ^ ESPN.com news services (2012-03-15). "Source: Blazers waive Greg Oden". "ESPN". Retrieved 2012-03-15. 
  2. ^ David Hughes (2007-08-09). "Greg Oden, the NBA's top pick, returns home to Terre Haute". Tribune-Star. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
  3. ^ Lamb, Kyle (June 15, 2006). "Oden Facing Wrist Surgery; OSU Hosts Camp". Retrieved May 11, 2012. 
  4. ^ Kerr, Steve (2006-12-15). "Questions and The Answer". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2007-01-29. 
  5. ^ "Oden Earns First Big Ten Weekly Award". Ohio State University Department of Athletics. 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2007-01-29. 
  6. ^ "Oden to named First Team All-Big Ten, Defensive Player of the Year". BigTen.org. March 6, 2007. Retrieved September 24, 2009. 
  7. ^ Quick, Jason (May 26, 2007). "Oden extras (updated)". OregonLive.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009. 
  8. ^ "Oden's recovery from surgery likely in range of 6-12 months". ESPN.com. 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2007-11-19. 
  9. ^ Thorpe, David (June 27, 2008). "Rookie of the Year Candidates, 2008-09 season". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009. 
  10. ^ "Greg Oden Info Page". Players. NBA.com. Retrieved 2008-07-26. 
  11. ^ Quick, Jason (August 5, 2008). "Big man's small step". oregonlive.com. Retrieved 2009-01-18. 
  12. ^ "Blazers' Oden leaves game early with foot injury". NBA.com. Retrieved 2009-01-18. 
  13. ^ "Bucks 85, Trail Blazers 102". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 19, 2009. 
  14. ^ "Oden tells teammates to keep fighting without him". Associated Press. December 7, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2009. 
  15. ^ "Breaking news: Blazers Greg Oden faces another microfracture surgery". The Oregonian (OregonLive.com). November 17, 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010. 
  16. ^ "Oden done". 
  17. ^ "Trail Blazers center Greg Oden undergoes "successful" knee surgery today". The Oregonian. February 3, 2012. 
  18. ^ "Greg Oden has microfracture surgery". ESPN. 
  19. ^ https://twitter.com/#!/KBergCBS/status/180410875398725632
  20. ^ http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7908766/a-rare-interview-former-no-1-overall-pick-greg-oden-injury-plagued-career
  21. ^ http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8832157/greg-oden-former-no-1-overall-pick-plans-resume-playing-career-sources
  22. ^ "Sources: Greg Oden draws interest". January 30, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013. "San Antonio, New Orleans, Charlotte, Indiana and Dallas have been monitoring the rehab of Greg Oden and are in the running for his services, sources said Wednesday."  Unknown parameter |name= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ http://nesn.com/2013/02/report-greg-oden-meets-with-celtics-to-discuss-potential-signing/
  24. ^ Bennett, Joey (September 20, 2009). "College Report: Gant, Hayes get glimpse of Big Ten atmosphere". Tribune-Star. Retrieved September 24, 2009. 
  25. ^ "Second drunk-driving arrest earns Arkansas’ Oden the boot". Collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  26. ^ Lamar adds Anthony Oden to offensive line[dead link]

Further reading [edit]

  • Mark Titus, "Oden on Oden", Grantland, May 9, 2012. www.grantland.com/

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greg Oden
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Luke Zeller		 Indiana Mr. Basketball award
2006		 Succeeded by
Eric Gordon
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greg_Oden&oldid=555086510"