Greg Oden isn't about to let anyone else tell him he is one of the biggest busts in NBA history.
Not when he's perfectly capable of saying it himself.
Grantland.com reported on Oden's role as the last player off the Miami Heat bench. The reporter, Mark Titus, considers himself to be Oden's friend, which may be how he got Oden to talk about his NBA legacy.
"I'm over all of that," Oden told Grantland.com. "I know I'm one of the biggest busts in NBA history and I know that it'll only get worse as Kevin Durant continues doing big things ... It's frustrating that my body can't do what my mind wants it to do sometimes. But worrying or complaining about it isn't going to fix anything ... I wish the circumstances would let me play more, but I certainly don't regret coming back, and I don't regret signing with the Heat."
Greg Oden rehab includes watching Miami Heat games at Hooters
Oden, a center out of Ohio State, was the first pick in the 2007 NBA draft, going to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Seattle SuperSonics, who would go on to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, took Texas forward Kevin Durant with the second pick.
Oden missed his rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery. He played 82 games total for the Trail Blazers the next two seasons combined before the Trail Blazers finally waived the injury prone-center.
Durant, meanwhile, has become the cornerstone of the Sonics franchise that relocated to Oklahoma City Thunder, having led the Thunder to the 2012 NBA Finals and winning his first Most Valuable Player award this season.
Oden has come to terms with his role, Titus reports, happy just to be back in the league after a three year absence because of knee and other injuries.
"Are you kidding? I was a professional rehab/workout guy for four years. I wasn't even a basketball player - just a guy who got paid to exercise," Oden said. "I spent four years trying to get back on an NBA court. Now that I've done that, it's not fair to myself to complain about minutes. I knew coming into this that I wasn't going to be the player I once was. I just wanted to get healthy and then help out any way I could."
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