Oft-injured Oden wants to play this season
July 12, 2012
Injury-riddled Greg Oden could be returning to the NBA this season.
That?s the word from Oden?s agent, Mike Conley, who got a call earlier this week from Oden. He said his client has changed his tune from wanting to take this season off.
?(Oden) called me, and he was kind of excited,?? Conley said Thursday in a phone interview with FOX Sports Florida. ?I think he?s motivated ?. He wants to play. He had said he wanted to take this season off, but he?s backed off from that ?. He?s open to playing this season. I think he will play this season.??
Oden, the star-crossed center who was taken No. 1 in the 2007 NBA draft by Portland ahead of No. 2 Kevin Durant, hasn?t played in an NBA game since Dec. 5, 2009. Out of 394 possible games in his NBA career, he?s missed 312.
Oden has had five surgeries on both his knees since entering the NBA, including two surgeries last February, one being his third microfracture procedure. He was waived by the Trail Blazers last March, making him a free agent.
Oden was quoted in a Grantland article last May about his plan to take the entire 2012-13 season off. But Oden told Conley this week about the change in his thinking.
?He?s starting to work out,?? Conley said of Oden, who was recently cleared for workouts, feeling better about his situation. ?He?s excited. You can tell he?s getting antsy. At the end of the day, I want him to finish out his NBA career. He?s still pretty young (24).??
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