On Wednesday night, Greg Oden took to the court for the first time since December of 2009. The center's NBA career appeared over before it truly began as knee injuries continued to end his seasons early. The former Ohio State standout was the No. 1 overall draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers, but only managed 82 games. However, now signed to the Miami Heat, Oden is back in action.
Oden's debut in the Heat's preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans was a surprise to some fans considering his recovery is still ongoing from long-term chronic knee issues. But in the second quarter, the center checked in. On his first possession, he ran down the court and dunked. Oden played four minutes of basketball in the game as the Heat went on to win 108-95. It was brief, but Oden said the return felt great.
"It's been a long time," Oden said, via ESPN.com. "It's been a long road for me, just to get that off my back, my first step tonight. I'm happy I'm able to walk off this court and I'm able to play another day."
Possibly more excited was teammate LeBron James. The reigning MVP was thrilled with the Heat opted to sign the center that was, at one point, considered the best NBA prospect in the game. James is just happy to see Oden finally back to playing basketball.
"It was a very special moment," he said. "I have no idea what my feeling would be like, being away from the game for three years. It was like a proud moment, man. I was so excited for him when he got on the court and he checked in -- and his first basket he gets a dunk. Can you write it any better? Obviously he's not where he wants to be, but the process is going great. I can just imagine how excited he was to get back out there. I'm going to have to take a toast for him, man. I ain't no drinker, but I might have to take a shot for him. It was an absolutely great moment."
The Heat will continue to slowly bring Oden back into basketball form. Head coach Erik Spoelstra understands that Oden's recovery will still take plenty of time. The team gave no indication how much the center will play, especially at the beginning of the season, but they hope he can become a reliable bench player soon enough. Spoelstra said Oden is way ahead of schedule in his recovery, but the team is keeping the bigger picture in mind.
"He's way ahead of schedule right now. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. This is big picture," Spoelstra said. "But he's much further along right now than we anticipated when we first talked to him in July. But that does not mean, for one second, we're going to think about fast-tracking the process. We have a very specific plan that we're going to stay disciplined to."
