Eh, I don't think they have to imagine too hard. Greg displayed some very poor judgement during his rehab process, and then there were all the stories about alcoholism and partying. People didn't just pull it out of thin air. There were signs of a young guy who made poor decisions and displayed bad judgement. A good example is one that I can personally attest to. As much fun as it was to play in a pickup game with Greg Oden, it displayed very poor judgement on his part. He was still a ways off from being cleared to play full contact basketball when the 24 Hour Fitness thing occurred. He played in a meaningless game, putting his health in jeopardy and displaying an immature outlook on his rehab process.
An immature 20 year old? Say it isn't so. The point is, until you've walked a mile in somebody else's shoes, who are you to judge?
That wasn't the point. tlong said that he always took his rehab seriously, and playing in a pickup game at a 24 Hour Fitness is not taking his rehab seriously. Who are we to judge any of it? Who are we to judge Terry Stotts? Have any of you coached pro ball? Who are we to judge Dame's shot selection? Have you ever had to take a jump shot over Chris Paul? We judge these guys on a daily basis, so why stop now?
I'm just glad you guys don't know about all the dumb immature stuff I did and the bad choices I made at his age.
Turned his back in what way? You do realize the Blazers waived Oden to clear a roster spot to enable the trade that got us the draft pick we used on Damian Lillard, right? BNM
I do find it ironic that he gets criticized both for having no passion for the game and playing a game just for the fun of it. It may have been poor judgement at the time, especially after what happened later, but is this really a reason to boo the guy? He was so anxious to get back on the court and test his knee that he played in a meaningless pick-up game. How dare he??? Boo the worthless son of a bitch!!!! BNM
Then again, we weren't paying for tickets to see you play basketball at the same time.....Not exactly a good argument.
Well, I think the point is that some people hate the guy for not taking his rehab seriously. Whether you believe all the rumors about his partying or drinking, I think the pickup game incident was just an example of him not understanding how important it was and not taking it serious enough.
Seriously? There are multiple stories out there that show he didn't take rehab seriously. What makes you think he did take it seriously? His amazing recovery time and ability to stay healthy? You guys are the ones making shit up.. Sent from my banana using Tapatalk 4
Wasn't the 24-hour Fitness game after his first rehab? If so, he played 61 games that season and didn't yet know his knees were made of glass. He hadn't yet ruptured his patella and had three more MF surgeries. As a 20-year old coming off his first knee surgery, he probably thought he'd successfully completed rehab. He really didn't have a frame of reference for what a successful rehab meant. He played in 61 games that year, and missed games when he came down on Andrew Bynum's foot and banged knees with Corey Maggette. Not exactly the kind of injuries you can blame on not taking your rehab seriously. BNM
I wouldn't boo him. I don't necessarily believe he was being honest with us. I don't believe he ever wanted to be here. His heart and mind I believe was always elsewhere. But still I don't know if all that equates into a situation in which he should be boo'd. He tried to deliver but his body wouldn't allow it.
No. It was towards the end of his first rehab. He hadn't played a single game in the NBA yet. The team freaked out and it was huge news because he hadn't been cleared yet for contact.
There are also plenty of tales of him spending TOO much time lifting weights and adding too much upper body bulk during his first rehab. Why the fuck wasn't someone on the conditioning staff monitoring his workouts? Also, why didn't the team high a nutritionist to monitor his diet? He was only 20-years old. Yeah, in hindsight, maybe he should have known better, but letting him bulk up to 300 pounds during his first rehab was just plain stupid. All the drinking and partying came later. I suspect it was related to depression, but that's on Oden. I could see why he'd get depressed after so many setbacks and all the drinking may have helped take his mind off the problems, but in the end, just made it worse. The whole situation was fucked up and there is plenty of blame to go around between the medical staff, the strength and conditioning staff and Oden himself. BNM
Yes, that was my point. He basically thought he'd successfully completed rehab and was eager to test the knee. BNM
This debate is pretty funny. Oden haters: We don't like Oden because he didn't take his rehab seriously. Oden supporters: He took his rehab seriously, you have no proof that he didn't take it seriously. He always took his rehab seriously. Oden haters: actually, we have proof that he didn't take his rehab seriously. Oden supporters: Well, he was too immature to take his rehab seriously, so you're blaming a 20 year old kid for not taking his rehab seriously?
