Greg Oden, a cautionary tale as a former No. 1 pick whose career was cut short, wants to educate young NBA players

Boston Globe

08-03-2025

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Three microfracture knee surgeries as well as a fractured patella robbed Oden of the opportunity to be an all-time great. He played 82 total games in Portland before being waived, and then spent 23 games with the 2013-14 Miami team that reached the Finals. While Durant became one of the game's most prolific scorers, Oden finished his career averaging 8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and full of regrets and anger because his body failed him.
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It took Oden five years to escape the malaise, including a battery charge in 2014. Nearly 18 years after that draft night, a 37-year-old Oden is healing, at peace with his troublesome and unfortunate journey, and seeking to help young players deal with career derailments, the hazards of the NBA life, and maintaining mental health.
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Oden wants to offer his experience and advice as an official 'old head,' reaching out to today's emerging stars who deal with instant success, lofty expectations, and demands from family and friends.
'I want to help these kids take all this money and be better when they're done and retired and look at life a little bit different and don't let any of what social media, the regular media, or what your friends and family say, look at yourself and be happy and be able to live,' Oden told the Globe. 'Hopefully keep all this money you made at a young age.'
Oden works as an athlete adviser for Edyoucore Sports & Entertainment, teaching prospects about financial literacy. He earned $24 million during his career, which is just twice the average NBA salary for one season.
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'I was that millionaire, too, and I was actually better and had more expectations than you at that point,' he said. 'And you want to see my downfalls and what I went through? I know what not listening to what your coaches say, what your friends and family say and doing your own stuff, I know what that's like. I know isolating and feeling like every decision you made makes you look bad but now you don't want to face anybody. I know that every time you hear somebody say your name you cringe a little bit because you don't know if they're talking good or bad about you because of some of the [expletive] you done did.
'Or I know you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. All that stuff is going to happen. I remember watching that [ESPN] 30 for 30 'Broke,' and they put my name in it and I was in my penthouse with my friends and I was like, are they projecting on me, what's going on, only because I had a couple of injuries?
'Hopefully they'll give me a little bit of grace because I have been through it.'
Oden admitted injuries weren't his only downfall. He said he lacked worth ethic at a young age. The
Bill Russell
comparison grew burdensome. He opted to play hurt to quiet his critics. He spent time playing video games instead of living at the gym. And by the time Oden gained a rhythm and comfortability in his second season, he was injured again.
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'Don't listen to [the hype], prove it,' he said when asked what he would tell a 19-year-old Oden. 'If that's what you want, put in the work to be that. Figure out everything Bill Russell did to be that. Handle myself off the court to be that. At 19 years old, I wasn't thinking that way. I was trying to enjoy the spotlight. I was trying to figure out what was going to be next in my life and I was trying to figure out how to maneuver this injury that just derailed all of it.
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'At that time, I wish I would have put in that extra work to get me to that spot, to look at what KD just did [scoring 30,000 points]. All that work he put in and just to think we came in on the same night together. Maybe I would have had guys that three days took me to the gym at night and helped me look at things a little bit differently. I never had the opportunity to get there. What 19-year-old that literally can't walk for eight weeks … I was bed-bound to help my leg recover. What am I going to do?'
Oden smiles often. He talks openly about his painful times. He understands his body wouldn't allow what his mind thought it wanted. But he wants to pay it forward, help the next generation, be a friend and mentor, if they'll listen. And they should listen.
Greg Oden answers reporters' questions the day before the 2007 NBA Draft in New York.
Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Still scoring
Harden had a vintage performance
James Harden
has quietly put together a renaissance season for the Clippers, reaching the All-Star Game for the first time in four years and keeping Los Angeles afloat despite a plethora of injuries. After a crushing road loss at Phoenix when the Clippers blew a 19-point lead, Harden responded with a vintage 50-point performance in a win over the Pistons.
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He made 14 of 24 shots, 6 of 13 3-pointers and reached the free throw line 20 times, making 16. It was the most free throw attempts for Harden in five years. And witnessing his masterpiece was former
President
Obama
, who sat courtside at Intuit Dome.
'I talk to James after every game, every night for the most part, and just figuring out ways to get better and what we need him to do, things like that,' Clippers coach
Tyronn Lue
said. 'But to see him come out and score 50 on a back-to-back at the age of 35, just says a lot about him competing every night. Playing 38 minutes again on a back-to-back, but we needed every bit of it. So, everybody who played the game tonight contributed, and we needed every bit of it.'
The Clippers' sideline was well aware of Obama's presence.
'That makes it a lot sweeter, with having President Obama coming to the game,' Lue said. 'When [Clippers governor
Steve
]
Ballmer
told me that last week, very exciting. So, a young kid coming from Mexico, Missouri, to having the president know you on a first-name basis, feels really good. I've come a long way. So, someone you look up to, you idolize and meant a lot to our country when he was in office, still does to this day. You see the ovation he got tonight when they showed him on the jumbotron.'
Barack Obama gets a loud ovation from Clippers fans
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_)
Harden, throughout all of his career travails, criticism, and unceremonious exits, is still playing at a high level and an advanced age. He's yet to win a championship, but he's aging well in a league that's unforgiving to aging players.
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'I can do it, it's not my first time,' Harden said of his 24th career game of 50 or more points. 'For someone who's done it probably their first time takes a lot of energy, but for me it's just understanding the game. Seeing the game within the game.
'I wanted my pic with [Obama] after the game, but he had left. I guess he wanted to beat traffic. But, we've got a pretty cool relationship, we've met a few times. So, it's pretty cool to see him at the game. It's the reason why I played so well.'
Pistons coach
J.B. Bickerstaff
saw Harden's 50 from a different perspective. He had issue with the 20 free-throw attempts. Harden is a master of using his physicality and crafty moves to draw fouls. He has lost a step but is still savvy enough to score at will.
'Give him a ton of credit, but if you're not allowed to put your body on him legally, and he's allowed to shoot 20 free throws, you're not going to be able to guard it,' Bickerstaff said. 'He's an elite offensive weapon who can score in a bunch of ways. But when he's allowed to get to the free throw line 20 times it just makes your job extremely difficult.'
Pistons guard
Cade Cunningham
, also an accomplished scorer, had nothing but kudos for Harden and how he positions his body on drives.
'He's one of the best iso scorers the league has ever seen,' Cunningham said. 'I can't put enough respect on his ability to score the ball, his ability to find angles and stuff. I mean, comparing the free throws between us, I think a lot of that, you know, has to do with respect from the [referees] as far as the experience, he's been in this league killing it for a long time, so I understand that. I respect it.'
Said newly acquired
Bogdan Bogdanovic
, who has struggled in Los Angeles but gives the club another 3-point option: 'Just coming in here and seeing him ready, [Harden] gives the motivation for [the] rest of the locker room and especially younger guys, everybody contributed, but it starts with him. People underestimate how hard [it is] to come back-to-back nights and play and put in minutes and be ready to play. And people think it's a game, but we lose sleep, we are nervous, we are stressed when we lose. We have these emotional moments, but when you have such a guy that, he's a leader by example, he makes the job easier for us.'
The Clippers are hanging on in the West, trying to avoid the play-in. But nine losses in 14 games has Los Angeles in the play-in. Back-to-back losses to the rival Lakers and then the blown lead against the Suns has turned the final 20 games into a crucial stretch. The Clippers still have two separate East Coast trips in the final month.
Leading scorer
Norman Powell
has missed the past seven games with a hamstring strain and isn't expected back for another week. Former All-Star
Kawhi Leonard
is resting on the second game of back-to-backs and has played just 20 games.
Former President Barack Obama, left, sat with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on March 5.
Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
It's a mystery
Cassell passed over for another top job
According to reports, Florida State is targeting former guard and current Kings assistant
Luke Loucks
to be its next head coach, replacing the retiring
Leonard Hamilton
. There was another interested candidate who was also a FSU alum and current NBA assistant coach,
Sam Cassell
. It's yet another head coaching job that Cassell has been bypassed for and it's mystifying why the veteran assistant, three-time NBA champion, and one of the more popular NBA personalities is still without a head coaching job.
Cassell joined the Celtics staff before the 2023-24 season and immediately bonded with the players. He has become the perfect combination of coach and mentor, with the 20-somethings on the Celtics roster knowing Cassell won championships.
One perception was that Cassell was too attached to former Celtics coach
Doc Rivers
, who hired Cassell in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. That is no longer an issue, and Cassell is
Joe Mazzulla's
lead assistant and offers guidance on strategy and substitutions.
Around league circles there doesn't seem to be any detractors. Cassell just turned 55, but he coaches and approaches his job with a youthfulness and vigor.
Cassell wants to be an NBA head coach and he was interested in coaching at his alma mater, and the Celtics hired him believing his tenure would be short term because he would eventually become a head coach. The Hornets hired
Charles Lee
after one season, and Lee helped the Celtics to the title and also the Bucks as an assistant in 2020-21. Lee had interviewed for several NBA jobs and was considered a top candidate.
It's uncertain why Cassell isn't on the short list of coaching candidates each offseason, but the league's loss has become the Celtics' gain. In an industry in which coaches are hired and fired repeatedly and teams are searching for bright minds, amicable personalities, mentors, and life coaches, it seems Cassell would be an appropriate fit for a team in need of a culture change.
Layups
Former Celtics' second-round pick
Anton Watson
was not a free agent for long as the Knicks claimed him off waivers. The Celtics chose to sign Memphis Hustle swingman
Miles Norris
to give him a look in the final few weeks of the season. Several teams made changes to their two-way players before the Tuesday deadline. Those players are allowed a maximum of 50 regular-season games and are not allowed on playoff rosters unless they are on a standard NBA contract. The Celtics still have an open roster spot and can choose to sign either a free agent who was waived before March 1 or convert one of their two-way players … The Mavericks have an interesting decision approaching after the torn ACL suffered by All-Star guard
Kyrie Irving
. Irving is expected to miss at least nine months but he also has a $43 million player option for next season. He could decline that option, become a free agent, and like
Kevin Durant
in 2019, sign a lucrative deal. If Irving opts in, the Mavericks will have salary cap limitations because of the first year of
Anthony Davis's
contract extension. He'll earn $57 million in the first year of a three-year pact he signed with the Lakers. The good news for the Mavericks is most of their core is signed through next season. The issue could be at point guard where
Spencer Dinwiddie
and
Dante
Exum
are free agents … The Wizards traded for veterans
Khris Middleton
and
Marcus Smart
because of their contacts but both have assumed considerable roles for the young Wizards. Middleton has started all six games and is averaging 12.3 points in 24.5 minutes. Smart is coming off the bench and averaging 9.7 points in 19.3 minutes. The Wizards are in an intriguing competition with the Hornets and Jazz for the league's worst record. The teams with the three worst records have approximately the same chances to land the first overall pick. The Pelicans, who have been ravaged by injuries all year, are 4½ games behind the Wizards and while the top three teams have a 14 percent chance at No. 1, the fourth team has a 12.5 percent shot.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at