Greg Oden reveals contract that made him want to 'kill everybody in f****** world'
10/03/2024 02:04 PM
Most basketball fans are familiar with the story of Portland Trail Blazers’ Greg Oden, the league’s first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. His injury-riddled, short-lived career is a disappointing tale of one of the most promising centers of the 2000s. Years removed from his playing days, Oden joined Butler basketball’s coaching staff for one season and recently he joined his former teammates Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller from the 2013-14 Miami Heat on the “OGs Podcast.” During the interview, Oden pointed out the one contract, Timofey Mozgov’s four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, that bothered the Ohio State product at the end of his limited seven-year NBA career.
“The year I retired was the year Timofey Mozgov – no disrespect – got that $50 million. I wanted to kill everybody in the f****** world,” Oden said. “I hated life. I was depressed. If they threw him $50 mil? I was like all I need to do is be on the team and that’s $20 million easy. It hurts my heart talking about it.”
Mozgov’s four-year, $64 million deal in 2016 was a result of the NBA’s new TV deal, where centers such as Mozgov, and others, received massive pay raises heading into free agency. After knee surgery forced Oden to miss his rookie season, he played 61 games for the Trail Blazers in 2008-09.
Then, major setbacks stunted his next four years. After playing in only 21 games the following season, three knee surgeries forced Greg to miss three consecutive seasons before signing a one-year deal with the Heat. He played in 23 games and even played in the 2014 Finals where Miami lost 4-1 to the San Antonio Spurs.
Greg Oden says he made $24 million throughout NBA career
Many still wonder how a hypotentical Damian Lillard and Greg Oden-led Trail-Blazers team would have fared in the mid-2010s. It still hurts Greg Oden when he looks back at his NBA contracts in contrast to the kind of money centers command today, or even eight years ago, for that matter.
“I made about $24 mil [total],” Oden said. “And I cut that s*** in half cause of taxes.”
Oden’s full interview is available now on YouTube.
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