A quick word about the Next Great American Center
Greg Oden did exactly what he was supposed to do.
By Ben Osborne
I think last night was the eighth draft I’d attended as a member of the media. And yet, before last night I’d only attended a single post-pick press conference (after the players rap with Stuart Scott and ESPN Radio, they are escorted through the halls of the Theater and brought to a traditional press conference setting where writers can ask them questions.) The only one I’d gone to was Ron Artest’s in 1999 (people sometimes act like his insanity came on late, but Ron was nuts back then, too and I was eager to see what he’d say about getting dissed by the Knicks).
Last night I attended my second post-pick press conference. Sitting in the stands, watching Greg Oden prepare to get chosen, watching David Stern walk to the podium and say, “with the first pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select…Greg Oden” (a phrase I had predicted exactly except for the team name, in print and online, at least 20 times since Oden was forced to skip the ‘06 Draft), watching Oden come to the stage…it all made me feel old, as well as very impressed with Oden. I thought about how I started taking notes about Greg after hearing him referred to as “the Next Great American Center” when he was in ninth grade. I thought about Ryan’s SLAM feature on Greg and the other big men in the HS Class of ‘06 when those guys had just finished their sophomore years. I thought about how at that point Greg was projected to be the top pick in the ‘06 Draft, and how some GMs said they’d take him No. 1 if he’d turned pro as a high school junior. I thought about how the second the NBA made it impossible to turn pro Greg instantly became the projected No. 1 in ‘07. I thought about what a great interview he was when I spoke to him for the cover story you see here.
So, you say, what’s the big deal? Everything happened the way it was supposed to. Well, to me, that’s a big deal. Greg Oden could’ve been sidetracked by any number of things, from bad decisions to bad luck to bad people (or any combination of the three), and he came through all of it to become the No. 1 pick.
This history was plenty reason enough to follow the big man through the hallway and into his press conference. He conducted an interview on a cell phone with a Portland radio station for his walk through the theater, still slapping as many fans’ hands as possible, and kept right on doing the interview until he sat before the assembled media at the press conference. His mic on, he finally cut off the radio interview by saying into the phone, “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to do a press conference.”
He proceeded to charm everyone in the room with his witty answers (such as telling David Aldridge he won’t get in trouble in Portland because his “bedtime is 1:30″), ending the press conference only when the NBA made him. Obviously the riches and fame will increase, but every indication is that GO is staying the same way he’s been since he appeared on our radars in 2003: driven, humble and thinking about his next challenge. The next thing that is “supposed to happen” is that this great big man becomes a NBA superstar and wins a title (or three). As I said in an interview with the Starting 5 Blog I did yesterday, I say he will accomplish those things as well.
52 Responses to “A quick word about the Next Great American Center”
Jun.29 at 9:53 am
Boing Dynasty says:
Greg Oden will not be in this years draft.
Jun.29 at 9:56 am
H to the izzo says:
For a minute there I thought you were talking about Spencer Hawes.Thank God you were not
Jun.29 at 10:07 am
Slim says:
Portland has absolutely owned the last couple of drafts. Is it me or have the Blazers conducted one of the fastest rebuilding processes in the NBA. I’m looking forward to seeing how the team coalesces. May not happen for a few years but the upside is Ridiculous.
Jun.29 at 10:13 am
James says:
No team is finished rebuilding while they still have Darius Miles on the roster!
Jun.29 at 10:15 am
Ben Osborne says:
Slim, I think you’re onto something. Being in the West will insure that things will still be tough next year, but the Blazers are very much on the right track. And James, I can’t imagine Darius Miles playing another second in a Portland uniform. They’d obviously trade him for nothing right now, and if they can’t trade him I wouldn’t be shocked if they bought him out.
Jun.29 at 10:15 am
Cheryl says:
And this is the real reason Kobe wants out of the West. –ASPOV
Jun.29 at 10:19 am
Boing Dynasty says:
PHX is in the West.
Jun.29 at 10:22 am
Slim says:
I think their picks have been excellent, but Ben, don’t you think Portland could have gotten more for Z-Bo? Frye took a step back from his rookie year and Stevie Defranchised’s got no knees.
Jun.29 at 10:24 am
Slim says:
Actually “Disenfranchised” would be better. All in all the trades that were made were all a bit… weird.
Jun.29 at 10:48 am
Danny W UK says:
Sorry nothing to do with the thread. When does the NBA release next seasons schedule.
Jun.29 at 10:50 am
tike says:
I got that Slam and it is nasty!
Jun.29 at 10:52 am
Danny W UK says:
But as I’m here…………..Kings need to trade. Get shot of Artest and Bibby, whilst there’s value in them. Hawes seems OK, Brad Miller the 2nd? The team looked a mess last season, with about 16 power forwards on the roster, and none of them really starter material. K-Mart isn’t the future, just a nice role player, like Rip. Tear the team apart and rebuild. Good luck Reggie Theus.
Jun.29 at 10:53 am
Ben Osborne says:
If they had the benefit of time, yes, they could have gotten more for Z-Bo. But I’m guessing they wanted him out of there before he could even attend a single practice with GO.
Jun.29 at 11:01 am
Boing Dynasty says:
The Raptors will be signing Grant Hill to replace Mo Pete. Thought you should know.
Jun.29 at 11:13 am
The Brooklyn Boy says:
Oden cracked me up with that line about not rubbing his hands because he was nervous, but because he was a little sick, and didn’t want to give it to the Sternbot, so he was “applying hand sanitizer.”
Jun.29 at 11:45 am
Max Airington says:
Ben, why am I finding out here that you did a Starting Five interview? Im such a bad blogger…
Jun.29 at 11:49 am
AJ$ says:
@ brooklyn boy: he should have let stern get sick
Jun.29 at 11:53 am
Danny W UK says:
And next seasons schedule is released…….when?
Jun.29 at 11:54 am
AJ$ says:
Shut up danny we talking bout GO
Jun.29 at 11:56 am
AJ$ says:
jk danny W UK
Jun.29 at 11:58 am
The Brooklyn Boy says:
@ AJ$ - not when stern’s responsible for creating a league that’s profitable enough to earn him a minimum of something like $80 mil provided he earns a near-max extension
Jun.29 at 12:05 pm
Ben Osborne says:
Max, Michael Tillery interviewed me yesterday afternoon and told me he’d try to get it up during the Draft, but I don’t think he’s done so yet.
Jun.29 at 12:10 pm
Max Airington says:
Not yet Ben, but Im looking forward to it.
Jun.29 at 12:27 pm
The Brooklyn Boy says:
Max - cosign. I started searching for the interview with Ben, and was bummed to not find anything. Ben - How’d you feel the interview went?
Jun.29 at 12:35 pm
Ben Osborne says:
I was grateful Mike wanted to talk to me and allow me to extol SLAM’s virtues, so I was excited about that. At the same time, I can be very long-winded and depending on exactly what he runs, there’s certainly a chance I will sound like an idiot. Being interviewed like that is always educational in the sense that it’s what an athlete has to deal with all the time: “how will what I said sound to those who are reading/listening.”
Jun.29 at 12:51 pm
Max Airington says:
Im sure it’ll be fine Ben. I actually appreciate the room Tillery gives his interviewees to spread out and dig deeper into a convo, so it’s not like you’ll be paraphrased or anything. All of your long winded glory should make the cut, but I guess I cant speak on that for certain. Although I do hope you spent at least fifteen minutes taking cheap shots at Ryan
Jun.29 at 1:04 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Please don’t. I’m fragile today. I’ll totally cry.
Jun.29 at 1:10 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Max, as stated somewhere else on here, I saw the Rock the Bells documentary yesterday. CRAZY. I’m even more tempted to try and roadtrip for one of those gigs this summer.
Jun.29 at 1:13 pm
The Brooklyn Boy says:
Yeah … it’s definitely weird to be on the flip side of the interview process when you make a career of being the one to ask the questions. Could be an interesting Slam feature if you could get one guy to interview a teammate (GM/player/coach?) or friend on another team …
Jun.29 at 1:16 pm
Max Airington says:
Is that gonna be on video anytime soon? I remember you saying something about it playing at an arthouse or something. And Im so excited for that show. I still wanna go to check out one of the coastal gigs since they’ll be coming with a tighter lineup, but Im more than happy with The Wu, Nas and Kweli. Brother Ali too, who I met at a house party in MN, and we ended up talking about Hempstead, Ny for ten minutes. hes chill for an albino white dude. Plus Ive just recently begun to appreciate the Jedi Mind Tricks who should also be there. I’ll be disappointed in you if you dont at least try to make the NY show…
Jun.29 at 1:25 pm
Ryan Jones says:
I’m actually thinking about Detroit — my man has family out there, the drive’s only about 6 hours from here, and it’s one of the few cities we have direct flights to from our pygmy airport. Randall’s Island is a pain in the a$$, but I might give that a shot, too.
And amazon lists July 31 as a release date. Pre-order now!
Jun.29 at 1:27 pm
Max Airington says:
Thanks.
Jun.29 at 1:29 pm
Max Airington says:
Oh, and speaking of Detroit and music, if you dont know and love The Detroit Cobras….you suck. Check em out if you havent already…
Jun.29 at 1:30 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Z-Bo was addition by subtraction. I presume Stevie Franchise gets bought out immediately (ain’t nothin’ to Paul Allen’s pockets) and Frye gets to go out there and back up Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge. I can think of worse jobs.
Jun.29 at 1:45 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Oh yeah, and word to Greg Oden. Sometimes nice guys DO finish first.
Jun.29 at 1:59 pm
Max Airington says:
Your interview just went up Ben, great stuff. But the link above is to SLAMonline…
Jun.29 at 2:00 pm
H to the izzo says:
…Like backing up Z-Bo and Eddy
Jun.29 at 2:00 pm
Ben Osborne says:
Max, the iview is up now. Mike definitely missed some words here and there but it is basically an unedited transcript. Again, it’s cool that he wanted me on there in the first place. Thanks for the interest.
Jun.29 at 2:34 pm
Ryan Jones says:
I’m only mentioned two or three times in that interview. That’s bullsh*t, Ben.
Jun.29 at 3:32 pm
The Brooklyn Boy says:
Nice interview, Ben. Despite the lack of all things Jones. Ryan = hater. Ha.
Jun.29 at 3:53 pm
Danny W UK says:
So I’m wondering when the schedule is released, rough guess anyone. I’m in Orlando next season and wanted to know when the Kings are in town.
Jun.29 at 5:06 pm
James R UK says:
Oden is the bomb bay!
Jun.29 at 5:51 pm
bigmike407 says:
To Max Airington-you should check out MF Doom too. That ‘Monkey Suite’ video is crazy. I watched it about three or four times yesterday. Oden will be everything that Portland needs. He seems polite, humble, and in the words of Chris Rock, he speaks so well!!! To Danny W. Have fun in my city!! But be careful at night, they just started sending Feds out on the patrols. Watch out!!
Jun.29 at 7:00 pm
Valarie says:
Want to hear something funny? Oden came to Portland today for a big “Welcome to Portland” rally in our downtown. You’ll never guess how he arrived at the event. As our newspaper, The Oregonian, put it, “Police escort? Nope. Limo? Wrong again.” He and his family came by MAX, which is our light-rail line (an overground commuter train, basically). http://www.oregonlive.com/
Jun.29 at 7:53 pm
AJ$ says:
@Brooklyn Boy: Maybe once Stern retires or gets shot u could take his place!!!
Jun.29 at 8:37 pm
Ben Couch says:
@ AJ$ - Haha. I’m down for it. Could be interesting …
Jun.29 at 8:43 pm
The Brooklyn Boy says:
haha … whoops. Slipped on the ole alias …
Jun.30 at 10:30 am
AJ$ says:
@Brooklyn Boy: Aight since it was my idea i xpect a few things:
1. Change the dress code
2. Ban all white people from the league.
3. When I come 2 the L in 6 years I xpect 2 be given rookie of the year & MVP & once I retire I xpect 2 be inducted in2 the hall.
Think u can handle that COMMISH???
Jun.30 at 12:59 pm
The Brooklyn Boy says:
@ AJ$
1. I’m down with that
2. That would a mite hypocritical. And by a mite, I mean completely and totally.
3. As long as you man up and show and prove, I don’t see that being a problem.
Jun.30 at 1:05 pm
AJ$ says:
@Brooklyn Boy: I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship homie
Jul.1 at 8:03 pm
Danny W UK says:
Big Mike, Why should I worry about the Feds patrolling at night?
Unless you can tell me what streets I need to be avoiding. I got picked up by the Law in Philly in March ‘96 for being in hte wrong part of town, they said I was gonna get myself shot. British tourist wandering the streets at night with a bunch of cash and a Bulls Jacket. It was worth it though, Rookie year, AI vs Starbury. And a week earlier, MJ, Pip, and Rodman vs ……….erm……..David Wesley and (rookie) Antoine Walker, in the Fleet Center with fans waving, Tim Duncan the Celtic banners). Ha Ha Ha. Thank god the Admiral was injured for the year.
Jun.23 at 1:46 pm
SLAM ONLINE | » Draft Week Begins says:
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