Oden: We Hardly Knew Ye

Another sad chapter in the story of Greg Oden:

Although Blazers executives would not say this is the end of the Oden era, the chances Oden plays again in Portland, or anywhere in the NBA, are doubtful at best. Of his five knee surgeries, three of them have been microfracture procedures, including Monday's surgery in Vail, Colo. Microfracture is the most invasive and serious of knee procedures, and involves making tiny fractures in the knee bone to generate bleeding and stimulate new cartilage growth. No NBA player has come back to play after undergoing three microfracture surgeries.

I feel terrible for the guy but I feel much worse for myself. I know its tough for Greg, but then again he has been paid more then $20 million over the last five years - more than enough to live in luxury for the rest of his life and pursue whatever other endeavors he wishes. But what about me? I was glad the Blazers picked him over Durant, I thought it was the correct decision. Now how many NBA championships will I have to watch Durant win before I can forget the whole episode.

In my life I have only got one autograph from a Blazer: it was Sam Bowie and I ran into him in the old Tower Records store in Beaverton. He was, of course, in a walking cast. So I suppose it is only fitting that the guy I thought was a sure bet would fail so badly.

So now that the cornerstones of the franchise, Roy and Oden, have both been felled by bad knees its back to the annual race to see if the Blazers can make the playoffs and then win a game or two while there.  Oh joy.

Greg sees like a genuinely nice guy and Roy as well so my heart goes out to them, but in the grand scheme of things, life has treated them exceptionally well.  The fates continue to dump on the Blazers though, and I am not sure why.