Latest Oden Injury Leaves Us Stuck Somewhere Between Patiently Waiting and Writing Him Off

Everybody loves Greg Oden. He’s a nice, accessible guy with a sense of humor, who isn’t afraid to show his goofier side or have supported a candidate well ahead of the pack. We’d also still like to see him fulfill his promise as one of the game’s great centers, even if it’s now looking like he’ll have to share that spotlight.↵
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↵So when he left Monday’s season opener after taking a tumble early, we held our breathe. When he didn’t return, we hoped the Blazers were simply being cautious with their prized rookie. Now the MRI’s back, the injury’s been confirmed as a foot sprain, and we’ll have another 2-4 weeks without him. But at what point do we start to turn on Greg Oden? When do we go from patiently expecting him to sooner or later come through, to writing him off, or at least wondering if he’ll ever deliver? It’s certainly not going to happen this week, or this month. However, that doubt’s starting to creep in. Or at least that sense of inevitability, that feeling that↵this is just a setback, is starting to slip away.↵
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↵A foot isn’t a knee; there’s no reason why this latest injury should affect our long-term view of Oden. And again, I think people genuinely want to see Oden do well -- for the good of the league, and out of genuine affection for the guy. What’s more, this isn’t a Sam Bowie situation; it was only at the end of last season that Kevin Durant began to look like a superstar-in-waiting. But that, despite all this, you can already feel popular opinion, start to shift slightly. That’s depressing, and you wish there were some way to avoid it. Though if it happened to Grant Hill, it can happen to Greg Oden. Unfortunately, it’s all in the game.↵