Oft-Hurt Former Blazer Talks 3-Year Injury Recovery to Join Elite Finals Team

This high lottery pick had an all-too-brief run with Portland.

Dec 5, 2009; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trailblazers center Greg Oden (52) is loaded onto a stretcher after a collision with Houston Rockets guard Aaron Brooks (not pictured) in the first quarter at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-Imagn Images / Craig Mitchelldyer-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers are not lacking when it comes to high lottery picks whose careers have been cut tragically short by injury. From Bill Walton (who at least won them a title before his feet gave out ) to Brandon Roy (who at least made three All-Star teams before his knees gave out) to Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, Rip City is littered with cautionary draft tales.

Oden, in particular, was somewhat snakebitten. The 7-foot big man was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in what wound up being a fairly stacked 2007 NBA Draft. Beyond being infamously picked ahead of future 14-time All-Star and MVP forward Kevin Durant (the No. 2 pick by the then-Seattle SuperSonics), Oden was also drafted in front of five-time All-Star Al Horford, multi-time All-Stars and Defensive Players of the Year Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley, his OSU teammate who himself later became an All-Star and All-Defensive Teamer.

Oden just could never stay healthy. He played just 82 of a possible 410 regular season bouts during his five seasons with the Trail Blazers, undergoing three microfracture surgeries and a knee scope.

After being waived by the Blazers in 2012, Oden refused to give up on his hoop dreams. He continued to recuperate from a pair of microfracture surgeries on his left knee and a right knee scope that had kept him on the bench since 2010, and eventually recovered enough to suit up for the Miami Heat during the 2013-14 season — the final year another former No. 1 overall draft pick, LeBron James, would be suiting up in South Beach.

Oden broke down his transition to the Heat in a fresh episode of "The OGs" podcast, featuring Heat champions Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. Haslem spent all 20 of his NBA seasons in Miami. Miller, meanwhile, had been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies that summer, and would not be teammates with Oden.

"I wanted to play. That's all I knew. I just knew I had to get my body right. And it had to be right. I had to make sure I was able to do something for you guys," Oden said. "Even when I got there, even through three years of rehab, I was still on a minutes restriction. If I practice, I can't play the next two days or something, or if I played I can't practice the next two days."

It's clear that his tenure in Miami, though brief, was plenty meaningful to Oden, now retired and working with the Butler Bulldogs.

Though Oden played just 23 regular season games and three playoff games, he became a crucial locker room presence on a Finals also-ran squad. In addition to James, that year's Heat team boasted fellow Hall of Famers Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Ray Allen. Wade and Bosh were still performing at All-Star levels.

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