Greg Oden found to be 48 Years Old

[Zamtuk]

Jason Kidd is black?

[Aardor]

Jason Kidd is black?

His father is black, while his mother is white, and he is normally referred to as an African American player by announcers. I never would have guessed myself.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

I actually think I am arguing more that the NBA sucks because of its style of play than anything else. I do think Reddick and Morrison would both benefit from playing in a different style of basketball though. I mean Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale playing today would be buried on the bench on most teams. Hell, if you took the 1980's Celtics entire team and distributed them throughout the league, the only one you could say would probably start and be considered a star would be Bird....yet that team would absolutely lay waste to the trash that plays in the NBA today.

[Sueven]

I can't totally discount that theory, but:

Is everybody in the NBA just too stupid to figure this out? If it was just as easy as using a different strategy, wouldn't someone have figured this out? There's a shitload of money to be made on it.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

If someone could figure out a way to change the entire culture of today's NBA, there would be much more money to be made in using that to change the culture of the inner cities. Maybe it will take the international ass whippings for a few more years to make the NBA understand it. Right now you have people making disgusting amounts of money because they can be flashy....why would they change to a team type player and make less money?

[Sueven]

Well, it's the owners, general managers, and coaches who would have to figure it out, not the players themselves. The players just follow instructions.

They might initially have some trouble attracting players who want to play in a more flashy, star-studded system. But I doubt it. Look at the eagerness of many players to go play in San Antonio or Phoenix. Players want to win, if they saw that playing for a team-first organization led to winning, they'd go play there.

Plus, players only have a choice regarding where to play during free agency. Free agency is significantly less important to building a team than the draft and trades. GM's can build good teams full of players who have never specifically chosen to play for that team. And while players may make money by developing a superstar persona and a cult of personality, GM's and coaches, who are the real decision-makers, make money by winning.

[Boogahz]

Flash is what sells. Especially in the US. This is not limited to the NBA or basketball. This is why those in the front office will not change the game back to a "team-oriented" game.

[Winnow]

Good thing Oden came out and secured that fat contract before having the knee scoped!

He already looks old. In a year, he's going to look like he's 50.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3017538

Oden's recovery from surgery likely in range of 6-12 months

ESPN.com news services

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Celebrated Trail Blazers rookie center Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, will miss the 2007-08 season after undergoing knee surgery Thursday.

Doctors found cartilage damage during an exploratory procedure, and team physician Dr. Don Roberts performed microfracture surgery to repair the damage.

"There are things about this that are positive for Greg," Roberts said in a statement posted on the Trail Blazers' Web site. "First of all, he is young. The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from microfracture surgery."

The 7-foot center is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. A full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, general manager Kevin Pritchard said.

"Certainly this is a setback, but our future is still incredibly bright," Pritchard said. "Is it disappointing? Yes. However, this is a great core of talent and players of strong character and will continue to be."

Oden described the knee pain in an entry Tuesday on his personal blog:

"On my vacation earlier this summer i got up off the couch and remember my knee having a sharp pain in it. That was about a month ago. I didn't tell anyone because i didn't want to seem like i was complaining or making excuses for anything. Plus i wasn't doing anything at the time i realized it hurt, so i figured it couldn't be anything big.

"After a couple of weeks, i had to finally tell someone so i went to St. Vincent's Sports Performance (where i worked out at before draft) and got my knee looked at. That was right before i moved to Portland for good. My knee was swollen since i was there. I finally just said that i need to tell my trainer because this is not normal. We went to the doctor's the next day to get a MRI and that night me and my mom ended up in the doctor's office being told that I have to get surgery. It's a light one, just a scoop, but still it's just another setback. I would like for me to be playing and not seem like i'm a high-maintenance player, but things just keep popping up."

Oden becomes only the second player in the common draft (1966-present) to be selected No. 1 overall and not play in the year of his selection. David Robinson was drafted by San Antonio in 1987 but instead honored his naval commitment.

This is Oden's second health problem since the Blazers drafted him in June. He had a tonsillectomy in July after struggling in two Las Vegas summer league games.

Oden, despite being hampered by a wrist injury during his freshman (and only) season at Ohio State, averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in leading the Buckeyes to the national championship game. He had 25 points and 12 rebounds in the title-game loss to Florida.

The Trail Blazers were the surprise winners of the NBA draft lottery and chose Oden over Texas forward Kevin Durant, who went to Seattle. Portland opens training camp on Oct. 2, and its regular-season opener is at San Antonio on Oct. 30.

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Research was used in this report.

Looks like he's a lame duck. He not only looks like he should be retired, he has the aches and pains of someone nearing their late 40's:

"Our doctors saw some early signs of arthritis in his knees,'' an executive with that franchise recalled Thursday after news of Oden's microfracture had come out. "They were also really concerned with his hip and his back as well. The way they explained it, all of those problems are linked: The knee hurts because the back is doing this, and the back hurts because the hip is doing that. The doctors thought there was some inter-connectivity between each issue, so that basically his body was working against itself.''

[Aardor]

Wasn't the same stuff said about Amare?

[Winnow]

Wasn't the same stuff said about Amare?

Amare had some very good seasons and proved himself in the NBA before he had his knee problems. He's also one of the exceptions with a serious dedication to rehab and improving himself as a player each year.