This wasn’t supposed to be him. The accolades and the awards, the nine-figure contract. Oh, sure, Mike Conley always had the potential to rank among the NBA’s elite. But if anyone was earmarked for it, it was Greg Oden, Conley’s AAU teammate, his high school teammate, his college teammate, a heavily hyped center prospect whose career was derailed because of injuries.
“It definitely wasn’t planned this way,” Conley told The Vertical. “Everyone will tell you, he is the guy who should be on the All-NBA teams, the All-Star appearances. I think he would have gone down as one of the best bigs of all time if he stayed healthy. It’s weird how things shaped out.”
Oden has resurfaced in recent weeks, on Ohio State’s campus, a 7-foot sophomore helping out Thad Matta’s staff as a student assistant on the side. At 28, he said last week that his playing days are over. He battled through a couple of stints in China last season but his injury-ravaged body never fully healed. Last summer, Oden called Conley; his body failing him and a child on the way, it was time to put basketball behind him.
“He understood his body and he understands his situation,” Conley said. “I think having a child opened his eyes. It made him understand that his main thing was his family. I don’t think he wants to risk not being able to be with his children, get down on his knees to play with them, walk around and run with them. It was the right time for all this to happen. I told him, ‘Do what you believe is best.’ I’m with him regardless.”
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