Man. I feel for him. Guys like Anthony Bennett and Kwame Brown were far bigger busts, but because of the hype Oden got people will constantly point at him. Make no mistake when he played Oden was an absolute beast on the court. He just couldn’t stay healthy. I hope he can find some solace and not dwell on the “bust” tag. He’s a good person. Was a great player. It just wasn’t meant to be.
by AmitN_Music
21 Comments
Oh Greg. Not a bust. Injuries didn’t allow him to compete, but when he was able to he was something special. That Broy, Lamarcus, Oden team will always be a huge what if.
Go back and watch those games when Greg played. He was a defensive anchor. Not a bust at all. Dude got injured. Markelle Fulz is a bust.
He was a force on the court, not a bust at all, injuries suck
A bust is if he was healthy but then got caught up in partying or something and did not try very hard to improve
Accurate appraisal.
I mean Darko? I agree Oden was a bust in the sense that he couldn’t reach the full potential of his height and draft pick. But like he wasn’t like horrible at basketball when he played, just always injured.
He is the biggest bust in draft history by far. Look at how much he was hyped. Look at what we could have drafted (Kevin Durant). Look at his complete lack of impact on the team. Anthony Bennett and Kwame Brown were taken in very weak drafts. Not historically great ones like Oden’s.
The legacy of the Oden pick will always be connected to the huge success of KD. Durant went on to be a generational player at #2 adding to the “what if’s”. I still stand by taking the big man, we just didnt need another guard/wing at the time… I think drafting philosophy has changed since then where you just take the best person available regardless of need for your team.
Injuries man, not talent. Oden was special, hate to see him think this way.
Failing to live up to the Hype IS a bust.
I don’t feel like he is the biggest bust when so many top picks. Hell even in recent years have FAILED. No injury excuses or nothing. It just really sucks having KD be picked second after such a…unfortunate set of events. Literally having so many names rush through my head from recent years I’m having a hard time picking one to type.
But honestly I don’t feel like being injured is a bust. At least as big as like Jabari Parker. Etc. I just feel like the media ran with the “you idiots didn’t draft the all time talent again?!” Acting like we fumbled Mike again. We didn’t. But 100% would be different history if we drafted KD. Oh well such is life. We will always suck.
I remember hearing on the radio right before it was announced that he was gonna be out because of the micro fracture surgery that he was spotted coming up limping after a round of dance dance revolution. Does anyone know if that’s true? Is this a false memory? I did smoke a lot of weed back then (a lot more I should say).
I don’t know if bust is the right term. Bust usually means overhyped talent that doesn’t play out. Problem wasn’t his talent, the dude could ball. But physically the guy couldn’t hold up. It’s more of a bust on the blazers medical team which seems to traditionally have a LOT of busts.
The blazer docs are just as much to blame if not more for missing the signs he was not a long term player.
Poor Greg, it wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t a debate on whether to pick KD or Oden and it was some other bum at #2 like Hasheem Thabeet.
I saw him play, he was sick when he was healthy. LaMarcus Aldridge just went on All the Smoke and talked about how sick he was. I’ll never forget the first 20 games of 09-10 and how good he was. The man was talented when he played, those are not things you can say for other real busts like Anthony Bennett or Michael Olowakandi
ANTHONY BENNETT
I mean he was under contract for 6 years, made $24 mil… of course it sucks but at least he’s probably set for life
F this guy…didn’t he injure himself playing video games or some shiz? What a baby.
He’s tryna beat the bonafide scrub allegations 😂
The thing is, I was against getting him from the start, I hate Ohio State and anything in its general vicinity. I wanted Durant. So whenever I think of Oden not only do I think about my hatred of Ohio State, his career being cut short due to injuries, etc but I also think about how much I wanted Durant.
The hindsight makes the dagger to the heart that was Oden’s career trajectory 10x worse imo. Same with Sam Bowie. You lose the Dream to Houston on a coin toss, and then you want a center so bad that you go for Bowie and the Bulls scoop up MJ. At the time, I think everyone could argue that it was the “smart play” to get Bowie, you needed a Center. But damn… The hindsight… It just makes it so much worse for me at least.
Not a bust!
I dont think Greg is a bust at all because he was actually great when he played. Not his fault his body betrayed him.
LaRue Martin is the blazers bust but that draft was all screwed up with ABA tampering
Greg was never a bust, he was just broken. I’ve never felt so bad for a Blazer. There was a lot of hope resting on his shoulders that didn’t come to be, but he was certainly not a bust