The Works: Another Curse of Greg Oden; Joakim Noah's Perils

Filed under: Bulls, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, NBA Injuries, NBA Previews, The Works

Today in The Works: the perils of playing hardball with '11 restricted free agents and The Works debuts its season previews.

But first, Greg Oden lives again and dies again, all at once.

The Doused Phoenix

The legend of Greg Oden continues to ... well, something. You could say "grow," but in the macro sense, that's simply not true, for, at this pace, in 50 years precious few will be eager to discuss Oden's legacy. "Twist" or "develop in odd, gourd-like ways" are probably better suited verbs in this case.

This case: Oden has stopped drinking and partying (good) and has patellar tendinitis, can't practice and won't be ready for the start of the season (bad, bad, bad). Ace Oregonian beat man Jason Quick got the story of Oden's turn for the mundane, which actually happened 10 months ago and isn't actually a complete rejection of alcohol or fun. Oden just realized his reputation preceded him, and that it'd probably be best for his image and body to stop partying so hard. And so he instituted a limit on his club attendance. Good for him.

He has also, with the help of his mom, learned to accept that Kevin Durant is better than him, despite Oden going No. 1 over KD in the '07 draft. That's got to be difficult; I wonder, in all seriousness, if KD winning an MVP -- showing superiority over not just Oden but Kobe, LeBron, Dwight and everyone -- would help Greg's internal healing process.

 

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