When Greg Oden stepped onto the court against the Washington Wizards on Jan. 15, it was his first meaningful basketball game in over four years. There was inevitably a lot of excitement for the moment, particularly when Oden scored his first bucket on a massive two-handed jam that left the backboard shaking.
But fast forward to today, and the first overall pick from the 2007 NBA Draft is back on the bench. He's actually the only player on the Miami Heat's roster to have not logged a single minute of action in the playoffs - not because he's unable to play (although his knees are never at 100 percent), but because the Heat simply haven't been in a situation where he could be of service.
Oden's obviously aware of the situation he finds himself in, and speaking with Grantland's Mark Titus, he didn't seem overly concerned about how his career is perceived.
“I’m over all of that,” Oden said. “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.”
The 7-footer also acknowledges how far he's come over the past four years, responding with "Are you kidding?" upon being asked whether he was bummed out over having a bench role.
"I was a professional rehab/workout guy for four years," Oden said. "I wasn’t even a basketball player — just a guy who got paid to exercise. 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.”
With that kind of attitude, we can only hope that there's a situation in the playoffs where Oden can be of service to the Heat. Perhaps he'll get a chance to guard Roy Hibbert in the Eastern Conference Finals.
