Where were the warning signs? http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=5603343&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d5603343
I've been injured every year of my life since the 7th grade. Didn't keep me from getting back to work that next Monday after whatever ouchie I got. The only stat you need to know since the 7th grade on Oden is that he was the nationally recognized high school player of the year for two years (the only player in history with that distinction other than LeBron, although had they had the award back in the day, I'm sure Lew Alcindor, Wilt and maybe Magic or Shaq would have won the award as well). The point is, you don't have injuries that actually impact your playing time and get nationally recognized for your domination of the game throughout high school. Sure, you sprain an ankle and miss a practice, but you don't miss like a quarter of your season from some real injury and still make every scouts list as the most dominant player out there statistically.
he's missed major chunks of basketball in 2 seasons. One was a freak injury (last year) the other wasn't (the MF). The other year? he missed a little bit, and in college he came back early. And seriously, what athlete period hasn't had injuries every year of their life playing sports? Maybe this "exec" was thinking of Andrew Bynum who played 10 games in high school.
So, did he go to college before 7th grade? If so, then this makes perfect sense. If not, well, then it really doesn't. barfo
"One league exec..." "One rival GM..." So, when did Canzano with his "unnamed sources" start writing for ESPN Insider? And seriously, said "exec" and said "rival GM" would have both taken Oden in a heartbeat and would have soiled their underwear in the process for the chance to draft him. This article is total bullshit. The injury to Oden's right wrist was his first significant injury, and the surgery came AFTER he finished high school. And, unless he was walking on his hands, I don't see how his weight could have contributed to that injury. Oden has had a series of unfortunate, mostly unrelated injuries. Perhaps the fractured patella was an after effect of banging knee caps with Corey Magette. If so, that's the ONLY time two of his injuries were related. The only pattern I see here is one of bad luck. It's not like he's had the same lingering injury over and over. The other pattern I see is people in the media grasping at straws to dog pile on a guy who's down on his luck and seeking out "execs" and "rival GMs" with 20:20 hindsight who would have drafted Oden over Durant, but now want to change history and say they knew all long Oden would struggle to stay healthy. Where were all these geniuses at the time of the 2007 draft when 29 of 30 polled GMs said they'd take Oden over Durant? BNM
QFT, however I would have bolded a different word: The author picked out what the lowest opinion was. What did the other guys say? How many did you talk to? What did the guy with the highest opinion say? It is interesting that ONE GM thinks that, but a long way from the whole story. Mediocre journalism.
I think GO is carrying too much weight. I'd like to see him more David Robinson than Shaq. I think it would be easier on his joints. But what do I know?
