Wow, this is terrible. According to the Oregonian’s Jason Quick, Blazers center and 2007 #1 overall pick Greg Oden is going to have to undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee, which will be his 2nd microfracture surgery on that knee since Oden came into the NBA. Oden has also undergone microfracture surgery and his right knee and fractured his left patella since entering the NBA, which he did after playing with a broken right wrist throughout much of his one year at Ohio State.
Needless to say, Oden is out for the rest of this season, and will, even in a best-case scenario, miss much of the 2012-13 season. Oden has only played in 82 games since being drafted, and hasn’t played an NBA minute since December 5th, 2009. This is the part of the Greg Oden injury story where we remind everyone that Oden has shown great promise when he’s actually been on the court and is still only 24 years old, but the chances of Oden’s knees forcing him to retire before he gets a shot at a legitimate NBA career are looking greater and greater.
When asked about Oden, Blazers team president Larry Miller said “It’s hard to put into words the heartbreak for everyone involved.” We wish Oden as speedy a recovery as possible, and hope we haven’t seen the last of such a promising young center on an NBA court.
