A professional athlete’s window to make life-changing is extremely short.
Blink, and you might miss your opportunity.
Oden was selected with the first pick in the 2007 draft by the Portland Trailblazers (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
In Greg Oden’s case, it was unfortunate timing that ultimately cost the former number one overall pick a fortune.
At least according to him.
Appearing on Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller’s “The OGs” podcast, Oden aired his grievances about missing out on millions, directing his frustrations and jealousy towards one player in particular.
“The year I retired was the year that Timofey Mozgov — no disrespect — got that 50 mil [contract with the Los Angeles Lakers], and I wanted to kill everybody in the f***ing world,” Oden said.
“I hated life, I was depressed. If they threw him 50 mil, I’m like, ‘All I need to do is be on the team. That’s 20 [million] easy.’
“It hurts my heart right now. I still feel a little empty when I talk about it.
“Like, no disrespect, Timofey, but goddamn, y’all could’ve thrown me another 20 [million],” Oden said. “Literally the next year after I retired.”
Mozgov’s 2016 four-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t a $50 million deal but rather a $64 million deal.
Even worse for Oden.
The former number one pick of the 2007 draft retired from the NBA in October of 2016, just before the salary cap was raised by more than $24.1 million from the previous season.
Oden’s career was a massive disappointment as injuries led to him never being able to reach his potential (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
It shot up over 30 percent. The increase was unprecedented.
Oden had a brief stint in Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league in 2019Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images for BIG3
This led to role players being gifted massive contracts that were normally reserved for the league’s biggest stars.
Not anymore.
At the time of the contract the Lakers were heavily criticized for handing out that type of money to Mozgov, but because of the league’s new salary cap, they didn’t have a problem in doing so.
Oden couldn’t shake the feeling of the potential millions he lost out on because of the salary cap bump the year he retired.
“I played six years, I probably made about 24 mil [total],” Oden said. “And I cut that s—t in half cause of taxes.”
Oden is regarded as one of the biggest busts in NBA history, due to an injury-plagued career and the fact that Kevin Durant was selected with the next pick after him.
However, as big of a disappointment as Oden’s career was, he could have made a lot more money simply by sticking around.
Even just a bit longer.
He didn’t have to be a star nor live up to his draft pedigree, the salary cap was so high everyone was getting taken care of.
Ultimately his body failed him from the start which is the real reason why he missed out on the millions more he believes he could have earned.
The timing of the salary cap going up when it did, added extra insult to injury.
