Oden: It Hurts to See Durant Doing So Well
Meanwhile, the NBA playoffs are under way, with big names from Greg’s (Oden) draft class like (Kevin) Durant, Al Horford, Mike Conley Jr., and Joakim Noah all playing pivotal roles on their playoff teams. Once upon a time, Greg Oden was supposed to be leading this group.
Just don’t think for a second that Greg feels sorry for himself. And don’t think that he carries any animosity toward other guys in the 2007 draft, most notably Durant, the second pick and someone whose name will always be linked with Greg’s. Now an MVP candidate and a likely starter for this summer’s Olympic team, Durant’s career arc has been the polar opposite of Greg’s. Greg knows this, too.
“I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t suck to see Durant doing so well,” he said. “Only because every time he had a good game in those first few years, I knew I was going to get a bunch of crap from all of my haters. But that doesn’t mean I dislike him as a person or anything like that. He’s a good guy and one of the three best players in the league right now. The only reason it hurts to watch him play is because I know that if I got the chance to show what I’ve got, I could be making All-Star teams like he and Horford are, too.
“That’s the worst part about all of the injuries and the criticism. It would be one thing if I had been healthy for five years and just sucked when I was on the court. But I can’t prove what I can do because I can’t stay healthy. Not having control over the situation makes it tough.”
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