MIAMI (AP) – Greg Oden has had years to think about the plight of his knees, and still has no good answers.
The No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA draft is a poster child for big man bad luck, an epidemic that’s been sweeping the league for years. The latest victim seems to be Joel Embiid, a 7-footer expected to be the No. 1 pick in Thursday’s draft before a recently suffered stress fracture in his right foot almost certainly robbed the former Kansas star of that chance.
“My body did what it wanted,” Oden said. “It didn’t do what I wanted.”
Oden a few weeks ago recalled the frustration of his situation. But he and Embiid are hardly alone. For every huge success story like the ones from Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon, there’s been the cautionary tales of Sam Bowie, Pervis Ellison, Michael Olowokandi, Kwame Brown and Oden.
Big men, big risks and often, big problems.