Despite numerous issues with his knees Greg Oden was being seriously courted by several teams. In the end he chose to go with the Miami Heat, an easy choice for many. He not only chose them because they’re the two-time champions but he also had a funny quote about playing with the best player in the word. Read more after the jump.
Oden spoke with Grantland’s Mark Titus:
“Obviously the chance to play with the best player in the world and compete for a championship was a big selling point,” Oden told me. “But more than that, what I really liked was how they thought I could really add something to their team. They’ve won back-to-back championships without me, so for them to pursue me as hard as they did meant a lot, especially given all that I’ve gone through.”
There’s also another perk to playing with the great Lebron James.
“The cool thing about playing for the Heat is when you’re LeBron’s teammate and you screw up, nobody gets mad at you for missing a shot or turning the ball over — they get mad at LeBron for passing to you in the first place,” Oden joked.
Signing with Miami is a low pressure, high reward decision for Oden. His 7-foot stature is what’s most important to the Heat as they really needed someone upfront to block shots, rebound the ball and dunk on people. While Oden’s minutes will of course be limited due to his condition, he’ll have a chance to ease his way back into the game without too much being required of him.
