Londyn the sponge is why Oden is at Ohio State, the college he played basketball for his freshman year in Oden will walk across the stage at Ohio State on May 5 to get his diploma, a degree in sport industry, hoping for a career as a coach, wearing a gown he still needs to be sized for. If it's too short, he doesn't care. How can I tell her go to school and get an education if I did not get one?
More: Greg Oden: 'I'm still trying to figure out my life'. More: Greg Oden returns to Ohio State as student manager. Oden returned to Ohio State as a sophomore in fall to get a degree — after he tired of the liquor and the bathroom floor and moping inside a house.
He's like, 'Just come here to the gym, watch practice, be around guys,'" Oden said. For the past three years, Oden has been a student coach for the Buckeyes. It was a strange feeling, at first, to be back at this college 10 years later. Oden remembered the feeling of invincibility in as he embarked on an Ohio State basketball career. He had just led his Lawrence North High School team to three consecutive state championships. He had been named IndyStar Mr.
Basketball and had been showered with national accolades. Like: Greg Oden is the next Bill Russell. Some of Oden's best times came during that freshman year at Ohio State. He was the hero as Ohio State won He remained the hero as he led the Buckeyes past Memphis and Georgetown and on to the national championship game. There, Oden scored 25 points, had 12 rebounds and four blocks against Florida. Ohio State lost , but the NBA scouts had seen enough.
Professional basketball was ready for this phenom. At the end of the season, Matta declared that Oden "was going to be one of the greatest to ever play in the NBA.
Drinking was a way of life for Oden long before he hit bottom in February of , on the bathroom floor. But he had once gone six months months sober, in , to "get perspective" after what he calls his "biggest regret" in life. As a free agent in August , Oden said, he felt lost. He had known nothing but basketball his entire life. He fell in love with the sport in fourth grade, by fifth grade was and by sixth grade was There was no turning back.
But without basketball that summer night and after too much to drink, Oden lashed out at an ex-girlfriend. Inside his mother's Lawrence home, police said, Oden attacked his former girlfriend. He missed the entire season. He finally made his NBA debut during the season against the Los Angeles Lakers but left the game with a foot injury after playing thirteen scoreless minutes. He scored his first NBA points two weeks later after returning from injury and scored a career-high 24 points with 15 rebounds in a —85 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
It appeared the Greg Oden everyone was expecting had arrived. Finally, during the season, Oden experienced the best season of his career as a member of the Miami Heat when the team reached the NBA Finals losing in five games to the San Antonio Spurs.
And last year, he played in the Big 3 League. Greg Oden admitted recently that upon his return from China, he fell into a depression and began drinking and taking opioids to numb his body. He was in a downward spiral until former coach Thad Matta reached out to his former star and invited him to the gym to practice. In fact, it was a life-changer.
The classes gave him a path forward. Oden eventually left his first NBA game with a foot injury after going scoreless in thirteen minutes of action against the Los Angeles Lakers. Later that season, he injured his left knee once again this time against the Golden State Warriors when he bumped knees with Corey Maggette.
The injury caused him to miss three weeks due to a chipped knee cap. In December of , Oden injured his left knee in the first quarter of a game and was taken off the court on two connected stretchers. Later, he underwent surgery for a fractured left patella and missed the remainder of his sophomore season.
He would go on and suffer the same fate as he was required to have microfracture surgery on his left knee, thus prematurely ending his season. In February of , Oden underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He 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.
The Trail Blazers finally lost all hope on their top overall pick and decided to part ways with him to create room on the roster for trade acquisitions back on March 15, A couple of months later, Oden announced his intention to sit out the season to focus on rehabbing his injuries. Despite his health, it was reported that several teams were interested in signing Oden for the season.
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