Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Over his career, oft-injured Portland Trailblazers’ center Greg Oden has earned $24,968 per single point scored. That’s right: $25,000 for every point scored, or a cool $50,000 for every two-point bucket.
For comparison’s sake, if could’ve-would’ve-should’ve been #1 pick Kevin Durant got paid at the same rate over his remarkably better career to date? $156.6 Million. Which would actually still be less ridiculous than the $19.3 Oden has earned for being a walking cadaver.
While I once felt sorry for Greg Oden and his brittle appendages, even he has to realize the ridiculousness of his career thus far and throw up his hands (but carefully) in a bit of “what can I do?†resignation and just learn to laugh along. If he is ever able to get a full season together, NBA fans across the country will be rooting for him as a feel-good story of medical redemption and determination of spirit. In the meantime, all he can do is count his checks and brace himself to be the butt of jokes until he either fully regains his health or someone else comes along who is more of an orthopedic surgeon’s dream (I’m really not sure as to which of these is less likely).
It’s just a shame that they couldn’t have had Greg Oden come out on crutches at the start of a recent game and let him score a pity lay-up — at $50k a pop, it probably could’ve paid for his last round of surgery.
