In a recent interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines," former NBA No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden took a harsh stance on his injury-plagued career, saying bluntly, "I'll be remember as the biggest bust in NBA history."
Oden, who was selected immediately before Kevin Durant, was limited to just 105 games during his career due to numerous injuries after having been hyped as a potential generational talent.
While Oden may believe that his career will forever go down among the most disappointing, Durant has a different view.
"Nonsense. That's nonsense," Durant told ESPN. "In order for you to be a bust, you have to actually play and show people that you progressed as a player. He didn't get a chance to."
In the original interview, Oden expressed his belief that his status as a bust would only grow as Durant continues to excel, proving himself as one of the best players in the NBA. Durant, though, makes the case that Oden's body let him down and that when he actually played his talent was clearly on display.
"He didn't want to get hurt. That was the last thing he wanted to do was to get hurt," Durant said. "That wasn't even in the cards, and he got injured and that was unfortunate. But when he did play, he was a force. Protecting the paint. They were so good with him and LaMarcus (Aldridge) down low, with Brandon Roy (and) Andre Miller at the time. They had a nice team. So he was a big part of that. He's not a bust. He just didn't play a long time because of injuries, and that's just what it is."
Despite the fact Oden's career is over and Durant's marches on, the Golden State Warriors star believes he will always be tied to the former Ohio State center because of the uniqueness of their draft situations.
"I think we're always going to be linked together as far as our draft class," Durant said. "That was (one of the first years) that you had to go to college for a year. So I think that played a part in how big that draft was. We were (one of) the first real one-and-done (classes). He would have come out of high school; I probably would have done the same, but we had to go to college and we were one-and-done. I think that played a huge part in it, and just the fact that two freshmen went back-to-back one and two picks, that was a huge part. So we're always going to be linked together no matter what."
