Injury-plagued former Portland center Greg Oden has opened up in a revealing interview about his struggle with alcoholism in his second NBA season, and also about harboring bittersweet feelings on Kevin Durant – the Thunder forward was taken with the pick after Oden in the 2007 Draft.
“My cousin got wrapped up in the NBA lifestyle and threw parties at my house all the time,” he said. “So I got wrapped up in it too. When I played well, I’d drink to celebrate. And when I played poorly, I’d drink to forget.”
“I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t suck to see Durant doing so well,” he said. “Only because every time he had a good game in those first few years, I knew I was going to get a bunch of crap from all of my haters. But that doesn’t mean I dislike him as a person or anything like that. He’s a good guy and one of the three best players in the league right now. The only reason it hurts to watch him play is because I know that if I got the chance to show what I’ve got, I could be making All-Star teams like he and Horford are, too.”