The three players who were selected immediately after Greg Oden in the 2007 NBA Draft are all enjoying really solid NBA careers right now. The fourth pick that year, Oden's former Ohio State teammate Mike Conley Jr., is currently steering the ship for the Grizzlies, one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Third pick Al Horford is providing a solid inside presence for a surprising Hawks team that looks poised to make a run to the Eastern Conference Finals this season. And the second pick Kevin Durant is, well, Kevin Durant.
But Oden, the top pick in the '07 draft, isn't doing quite as well as any of those guys. In fact, he's not even in the NBA right now because of chronic knee issues and a serious lack of production in recent years. And while there's a chance that he could make a comeback at some point—there will always be a market for 7-foot centers in the NBA—the future isn't looking particularly bright for Oden, who turns 27 today. And if he doesn't get another look in the league, he could end up going down as one of the biggest busts in NBA Draft history.
So how did we get here? Well, it's basically been one misstep after another for Oden over the last eight years. Just check out our list of The Saddest Moments of Greg Oden's Career. The saddest thing in life really is wasted talent.
Slow Start
Date: September 2007
Moment: Undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee before playing in a single NBA game
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Oden's NBA career was pretty much doomed before it even started. He didn't play in a single regular season game before he found himself sidelined with a knee injury that ended up preventing him from playing for his entire rookie season. It was a sign of bad things to come and, ultimately, put him behind the 8-ball from day one in the league.
Man Down
Date: October 2008
Moment: Leaving his first NBA game after playing for just 13 minutes because of a foot injury
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After waiting for more than a year to see Oden play his first game, Trail Blazers fans were treated to 13 scoreless minutes from Oden before he suffered his second injury with the team. Fortunately, the injury didn't sideline him for another season. But it did force a lot of Portland fans to start wondering whether or not their team had made the right decision by taking Oden No. 1 overall in 2007.
Life of the Party
Date: Late 2008/Early 2009
Moment: Becoming "an alcoholic" during his second season with the Trail Blazers
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The world didn't find out about Oden's drinking problems until 2012 when he agreed to sit down for an interview with Grantland. But according to him, he turned to alcohol when things were going good as well as when they were going bad during his second season in the NBA. He put some of the blame on his cousin, an Air Force veteran who moved in with him at the start of the season. But he also admitted that he was the one who ultimately had a problem.
"If you know anything about guys in the Air Force, it's that they drink a ton," he said in 2012. "My cousin got wrapped up in the NBA lifestyle and threw parties at my house all the time. So I got wrapped up in it, too. When I played well, I'd drink to celebrate. And when I played poorly, I'd drink to forget. That second year in Portland I pretty much became an alcoholic."
Man Down (Again)
Date: February 2009
Moment: Chipping his knee cap after bumping knees with Corey Maggette and missing three weeks worth of games
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During the 2008-09 NBA season, Oden managed to play in 61 games and proved that he could stay healthy. Er, for the most part. We already told you about how he injured his foot in his first NBA game. But he also suffered an even worse injury a few months later. It didn't prevent him from playing later in the year, but it did derail his rookie season and he struggled to average more than eight points and seven rebounds in his first year in the league.
Man Down (Yes, AGAIN)
Date: December 2009
Moment: Getting taken off the court on a stretcher after suffering a fractured patella in his left knee
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After struggling during his rookie season in the NBA, Oden showed a little bit more promise at the start of the 2009-10 season. Through December, he was averaging about 11 points and almost nine rebounds per game. But then, he suffered another devastating injury and was forced to miss the rest of the season.
The Leak
Date: January 2010
Moment: Having a naked bathroom shot of himself leak out on the Internet
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Oden isn't the first athlete to have a nude photo leak out on the 'net. But could the timing of this have been any worse? Here was a guy who was trying to recover from yet another bad injury. And now, he was going to have to deal with off-the-court issues as well. It was starting to look more and more like Oden had "BUST" written all over him.
Damn, Dog
Date: Early 2010
Moment: Dealing with the death of his blind dog—a dog he had raised for four years—after it walked off a hotel balcony in Los Angeles and fell eight stories
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Remember how we said there's nothing sadder in life than wasted talent earlier? Um, yeah. There actually is something sadder. It's having your blind dog die and feeling partially to blame for it. Wow. Anyone have a tissue handy?
Darkest Days
Date: Early 2010
Moment: Dealing with the death of his cousin, the Air Force veteran who moved in with him during his second season with the Trail Blazers
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In early 2010, Oden should have been 100 percent focused on rehabbing his balky knees. But all of the death that surrounded him made that difficult. First, he was forced to deal with his dog dying. And then, just weeks later, his cousin passed away after battling cancer. It no doubt made it hard for Oden to focus on anything else.
Portland, We've Got a Problem
Date: November 2010
Moment: Undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee and missing the entire 2010-11 NBA season
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If Trail Blazers fans, players, and executives weren't worried before, they were definitely worried after this. At this point, Oden wasn't even getting hurt as a result of playing basketball anymore. His knees were simply giving out on him while he was trying to rehabilitate and making it difficult for him to walk, let alone take the basketball court.
Game Over?
Date: February 2012
Moment: Undergoing another microfracture surgery on his right knee during what was supposed to be a routine arthroscopic surgery
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The Blazers were officially finished with Oden after this. They waived him from their team one month later in order to make room for trade acquisitions and it looked like Oden's NBA career was over.
I Got a Story to Tell
Date: May 2012
Moment: Telling Grantland about how difficult his first five years in the NBA were
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How did Oden go from the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft to out of the league after playing in just 82 games? That was the question that Grantland tried to answer when they sent one of his former AAU teammates Mark Titus to interview him. What they found was a young man who had gone through hell through his first five years in the league as well as a man who didn't sound like he knew what he wanted to do next with his life.
What's Next?
Date: August 2012
Moment: Admitting that his dream was to be a gym teacher one day
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During a charity gold tournament in Terre Haute, Ind., Oden revealed what he really wanted to do with his life. No, he didn't want to play basketball or make another run at the NBA. Instead, he wanted to…be a gym teacher?
"I feel like they have the best job ever," he said at the time. "You think about it, they get their weekends off and they get to wear sweats every day to work."
That sounds like the "best job ever"? What about playing in the NB…oh, nevermind.
The Punch Heard 'Round the (NBA) World
Date: August 2014
Moment: Getting arrested for allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend in the face during an argument
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Oden didn't have a spectacular season with the Heat last year. But he was on the team and, at times, he was a minor contributor. So it seemed likely that he'd get another chance to play in the NBA during the 2014-15 season. That is, until he allegedly punched his ex-girlfriend during an argument that may have involved one or both of them being drunk. It's not the only reason NBA teams shied away from signing Oden in the offseason. But it certainly didn't help his cause.
Isn't It Ironic?
Date: November 2014
Moment: Wearing a T-shirt that said "BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS" on the front of it while sitting courtside at an Ohio State game
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Did he get dressed in the dark that day?
Don't Call It a Comeback
Date: January 2015
Moment: Throwing down a dunk during a pickup basketball game against guys who are definitely not NBA players
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In theory, Oden dunking should be a good thing. After all, it means that his knees aren't 100 percent finished. But we can't help but wonder why he's playing at a local gym instead of an NBA gym these days. And it makes us kind of sad when we think about what could have—and should have—been for Oden.